THE  UNIVERSITY  LIRRApv  I  '^  ^  ^ 

LA  JOLLA,  CALIFORNIA         ^^  ^C^^(^ 


V 


3 


A   HISTORY 


Catholic  Church 


WITHIN   THE 


LIMITS  OF   THE    UNITED   STATES, 


FROM    THE    FIRST    ATTEMPTED    COLONIZATION    TO    THE 
PRESENT   TIME. 


WITH    PORTRAITS,    VIEWS.    MAPS,    AND    FAC-SIMTLES. 


BY 


JOHN    GILMARY    SHEA. 


NEW    YORK: 

JOHN    G.    S  H  EA. 

1890. 


COPYRIGHT,     iSqo,   by 
JOHN    GILMARY    SHEA. 


The  illustyations  in  this  work  are  copyrighted^  and  reproduction  is  forbidden. 


HISTORY 


CATHOLIC   CHURCH 


UNITED   STATES 

From  the  Division  of  the  Diocese  of  Baltimore,  1808,  and  Death 

OF  Archbishop  Carroll,  181 5,  to  the  Fifth  Provincial 

Council  of  Baltimore,  1843. 


JOHN  GILMARY  SHEA 


NEW  YORK 

JOHN    G.    SHEA 

1890 


COPYKIGHT,    iSgO,    BY 

JOHN  GILMARY  SHEA. 


The  illustrations  in  this  zvork  are  copyrighted,  and  reproduction  is  forbidden. 


THE   MEKSHON    COMPANY   PRESS, 
RAHWAV,  N.  J. 


REV.  P.  A.  TREACY,  OF  BURLINGTON,  N.  J., 

His  Eminence  James  Cardinal  Gibbons,  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more ;  THEIR  Graces,  the  Most  Rev.  Peter  Richard  Kenrick, 
Archbishop  of  St.  Louis  :  James  J.  Williams,  Archbishop  of 
Boston  ;  Patrick  J.  Ryan,  Archbishop  of  Philadelphia  ;  Francis 
Janssess,  Archbishop  of  New  Orleans  ;  Most  Rev.  J.  V.  Cleary, 
Archbishop  of  Kingston  ;  their  Lordships,  Rt.  Rev.  Louis  de 
Goesbriand,  Bishop  of  Burlington  ;  Stephen  V.  Ryan,  Bishop  of 
Buffalo  ;  Francis  J.  McNeirny,  Bishop  op  Albany  ;  John  J. 
Keane,  Bishop  of  Ajasso,  and  Rector  of  the  Catholic  Univer- 
sity ;  Thomas  McGovern,  Bishop  of  Harrisburg  ;  James  Ryan, 
Bishop  of  Alton  ;  Rt.  Rev.  Arthur  J.  Donnelly  ;  Very  Rev.  T, 
J.  Campbell,  Provincial  of  the  Maryland-New  York  Province  ; 
Very  Rev.  J.  P.  Frieden,  Provincial  of  the  Missouri  Province  ; 
Very  Rev.  H.  Gabriels,  President  of  St.  Joseph's  Seminary  ;  the 
Augustinian  Fathers,  Villanova  :  the  Paulist  Fathers,  New 
York  ;  Rev.  William  P.  Treacy  ;  Rev.  Laurence  J.  Morris  ;  Rev. 
Patrick  Hennessy  ;  Rev.  J.  Haa'ens  Richards.  S.J.  ;  Rev.  John 
Scully,  S  J.  ;  Rev.  John  Morgan,  S.J.  ;  Rev.  Robert  Fulton, 
S.J.  ;  Rev.  E.  A.  Higgins,  S.J  ;  Rev.  D.  A.  Merrick,  S.J.  ;  Rev. 
M.  A.  O'Kane,  S.J.  ;  Rev.  H.  A.  Schaapman,  S.J.  ;  Rev.  Thomas 
Taaffe  ;  Rev.  E.  V.  McElhone  ;  Rev.  James  McKernan  ;  Rev.  P. 
Cassidy,  S.J.  ;  Rev.  John  Conway  ;  Rev.  J.  T.  Harrison  ;  Rev.  C. 
Corcoran  ;  Rev.  Fr.  Solnce  ;  Rev.  James  Gaughran  ;  George 
W.  Childs,  Esq  ;  James  McMahon,  Esq.  ;  John  Boyle  O'Reilly, 
Esq.  ;  the  Proprietors  op  the  Northwestern  Chronicle  ;  Miss  E. 
L.  Drexel  ;   Mrs.  L.  D.  Morrell  ;   Mrs.  James  J.  Treacy 

THIS  VOLUME  IS  RESPECTFULLY  AND  HUMBLY  DEDICATED  IN  GRATITUDE 

FOB  THE  Memorial  proposed  by  Rev.  P.  A.  Treacy. 


CONTENTS. 


BOOK  I. 

PROVINCE  OF  BALTIMORE. 

CHAPTER  I. 

DIOCESE  OF  BALTIMORE. 

Most  Rev.  Leonard  Neale,  Second  Archbishop,  1815-1817. 
Sketch  of  Archbishop  Neale— Troubles  at  Norfolk— His  firmness — 
Visitation  Convent  canonically  established — Death  of  Very 
Rev.  Mr.  Nagot— The  Pallium  conferred — Charleston  Troubles 
— Rome  deceived — Dr.  Neale's  firm  Letter — The  Barber  Family 
— Last  illness— Death— Tomb 25 

CHAPTER  II. 

DIOCESE    OP    BALTIMORE. 

Most  Rev.  Ambrose  Marechal,  Third  Archbishop,  1817-1830.  _ 
Sketch — Prints  the  Synod — Visitations — Norfolk  and  a   Jansen-  ' 
ist    Schism— Charleston — The  Pallium  —  Resources  —  Father 
Edeler's  Controversy — The  Cathedral  completed  and  dedicated 
— Death  of  Mrs.  Seton — The  old  Jesuit  Estate — Visits  Rome — 
Results 39 

CHAPTER  III. 

DIOCESE    OF    RICHMOND. 

Rt.  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly,  First  Bishop,  1820-1832. 
Protest  of  Archbishop  Marechal — Bishop  Kelly  receives  Carbry — 
Excluded   from  the   Church — Opens   a   School — Progress  at 
Wheeling — Transferred  to  Waterf ord 76 

CHAPTER  IV. 

DIOCESES  OF  BALTIMORE  AND  RICHMOND. 

Most  Rev.  Ambrose  Marechal,  Archbishop  and  Administrator, 
1823-1828. 
Church  in  Virginia — Cure  of  Mrs.  Mattingly — Of  others — Jesuit 
novices  remove  to  Missouri  —Death  of  Rev.  Mr.  Moranville — 
Theological  faculty — Mount  St.  Mary's — Oblate  Sisters  of 
Providence — Consecration  of  Bishops  Fenwick  and  Du  Bois — 
Visitation  Nuns— A  Coadjutor — Death  of  Dr.  Marechal 84 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

DIOCESES  OP  BALTIMORE  AND  RICHMOND. 

Most  Rev.  James  Whitfield,  Fourth  Archbishop  and  Admin- 
istrator, 1828-1829. 
Sketch — Consecration — Visitation — First  Provincial  Council — Vir- 
ginia     100 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DIOCESE    OF    BOSTON. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Cheverus,  First  Bishop,  1808-1823. 
Sketch — Catholicity  in  New  England — Consecration — Conversion  of 
Blythe — Visitation— French  Testament — Dr.  Matignou — Mr. 
Walley — Beginnings  of  Ursuline  Convent — The  Barber  Fami- 
ly— Death  of  Rev.  Dr.  Matiguon — Of  Rev.  Mr.  Romagne — 
Father  Lariscy  and  St.  Augustine's  Church — Rev.  John 
Thayer— Summoned  to  France 107 


CHAPTER  VII. 

DIOCESE   OP   BOSTON. 

V.  Rev.  William  Taylor,  Administrator,  1823-1825. 
His  previous  Labors— Conversion  of  Dr.  Bowen  Greene 132 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

DIOCESE    OF    BOSTON. 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Fenwick,  Second  Bishop,  1825-1829. 
Sketch  —  Consecration  —  State  of  Diocese— Convent    at    Charles- 
town — Schools — Cathedral  enlarged — Indian  Missions — Visita- 
tions— New  Churches — Diocese  in  1828 — The  Jesuit 134 

CHAPTER  IX. 

DIOCESE   OP   NEW   YORK. 

Rt.  Rev.  Richard  Luke  Concaueu,  First  Bishop,  1808-1801; 
V.  Rev.  Anthony  Kohlmann,  Administrator,  1801-1815. 
Sketch    of  Dr.   Concanea — His  Death — New  York  Literary    In- 
stitution —  Ursuline  Convent  —  St.   Patrick's  Cathedral — The 
Confessional — Trappists  and  Trappist  Nuns— Cathedral  com- 
pleted       160 

CHAPTER  X. 

DIOCESE   OF   NEW   YORK. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Connolly,  Second  Bishop,  1815-1825. 
Sketch — Consecration — Labors  and  Difficulties — Rev.    Wm.  Tay- 
lor— Sisters  of  Charity — New  Churches — Death  of  Bishop  Con- 
nolly    172 


CONTENTS.  XIU 


CHAPTER  XI. 

DIOCESE   OP  NEW   YORK. 

Very  Rev.  John  Power,  Administrator,  1885-1826. 
Lacty's  Directory — Truth  Teller— St.  Mary's  Church — Rev.  Peter 

Malou 188 

CHAPTER  XII. 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Du  Bois,  Third  Bishop,  1826-1829. 
Sketch — Consecration — Christ  Church  and  Rev.  F.  Varela — Visita- 
tion— New  Churches — Attempt  to  introduce  Brothers — Sum- 
moned to  Rome 193 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

DIOCESE   OP   PHILADELPHIA. 

Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Egan,  First  Bisliop,  1808-1815. 
Sketch — A  Franciscan  Province  projected— Provision  for  Support — 
Visitation— Troubles  at  St.  Mary's— The  Harolds— Death  of 
Bishop  Egan ,  = 206 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

DIOCESE  OP   PHILADELPHIA. 

V.  Rev.  Adolphus  Louis  de  Barth,  Administrator,  1814-1820. 
Sketch — Gallitzin's  Defense  of  Catholic  Principles — New  Churches 

— Rev.  William  Hogan — His  last  Days 219 

CHAPTER  XV. 

DIOCESE  OP   PHILADELPHIA. 

Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Conwell,  Second  Bishop,  1819-1842. 
The  Hogan  Troubles— Dr.  England's  Attempt — Dr.  Conwell  at  St. 
Joseph's — Trustees  condemned  by  Pope  Pius  VII. — Inglesi — 
O'Meally — A  Cathedral  projected — Progress  in  other  parts  of 
Pennsylvania — Dr.  Conwell  makes  Concessions — He  is  Con- 
demned— Summoned  to  Rome 229 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

DIOCESE  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

V.  Rev.  William  Matthews,  Vicar-General  Apostolic 265 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

DIOCESE  OF  BARDSTOWN. 

•  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  First  Bishop  1810-1829. 
Early  History — Biographical  Sketch — At  Bardstown — Rev.  C.  Ner- 
inckx  and  the  Sisters  of  Loretto — Dominicans — Visitation 
— Illinois — Michigan — Cathedral — Bishop  David,  Coadjutor — 
See  proposed  at  Cincinnati — Sisters  of  Charity — Colleges — Vin- 
cennes — Death  of  Nerinckx — Sistei's  of  St.  Dominic 266 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

DIOCESE  OF  CHARLESTON. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  England,  First  Bishop,  1820-1839. 
Sketch — In    Charleston  —  Visitation  —  Gallagher    and    Browne — 
Trustees — Classical  Seminary — Florida — His   Constitution  for 
his  Diocese— Intolerance — Sermon  before  Congress — Progress.     306 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

DIOCESE  OP  CINCINNATI. 

Rt.  Rev.  Edward  Dominic  Fenwick,  First  Bishop,  1821-1829. 
Early  history — First   Ohio   Churches — Michigan — Indians — Ques- 
tions as  to  Marriage— At  Rome — Death  of  F.  Hill,  O.S.D. — 
Cathedral — Seminary  and  College— German  Churches 330 


BOOK  II. 

CHAPTER   I. 

DIOCESE  OF  LOUISIANA  AND  THE  PLORIDAS. 

Rt.  Rev.  Louis  William  Du  Bourg,  Second  Bishop,  1815-1826. 
Troubles — Ursuline  Convent — The  Lyons  "Association  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Faith"— Bishop  Du  Bburg  returns — At 
St.  Louis — Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart — Death  of  V.  Rev.  Felix 
de  Andreis — Progress  of  Religion — Visitation — At  New  Orleans 
— The  Lazarists  and  their  Labors — Florida  restored  to  his  Dio- 
cese—The Church  there — Different  dispositions  by  Rome — 
Bishop  Rosati  as  Coadjutor — The  Bishop  secures  the  Jesuits 
— Sisters  of  Loretto — Bishop  Du  Bourg  at  New  Orleans — The 
Ursulines — Difficulties  at  St.  Louis — Arkansas — Bishop  Du 
Bourg  resigns 351 

CHAPTER  II. 

DIOCESES  OP  ST.  LOOTS  AND  NEW  ORLEANS. 

Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  First  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  1827-1843  ; 

Administrator  of  New  Orleans,  1827-1828. 

Visitation — Churches — Trustees  condemned  by  the  Pope 395 

CHAPTER  III. 

VICARIATE  APOSTOLIC  OF   ALABAMA. 

Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Portier,  Bishop  of  Olena,  Vicar-Apostolic. 
Consecration — Condition  of  Church — Visitation 403 


BOOK  III. 

Chapter  I— The  First  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore 407 

"    II— Growth  of  Anti-Catholic  Feeling 419 


CONTENTS.  XV 

BOOK  ly. 

CHAPTER   I. 

DIOCESB  OF  BALTIMORE  AND  RICHMOND. 

Rt.  Rev.  James  Whitfield,  Fourth  Archbishop,  1829-1834. 
Visitation — Accident  —  Visitation  Convent  —  F.  John  McElroy — 
Mount  St.  Mary's  College — Carmelites  remove  to  Baltimore — 
Publications — Diocesan  Synod — Sister  Rose  White — Calvert 
Hall — Georgetown  College  commemorates  the  Landing  of  the 
Pilgrims  —  F.  James  Ryder  —  The  Maryland  Province  —  St. 
James's  Church — Second  Provincial  Council — New  Dioceses — 
A  Coadjutor — Death  of  Archbishop  Whitfield 423 

CHAPTER  II. 

DIOCESES  OF  BALTIMORE  AND  RICHMOND. 

Most  Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  Fifth  Archbishop,  1834-1843. 
Sketch — Visitations — Third  Provincial  Council — New  Sees — Fred- 
erick City  and  F.  John  McElroy — Washington  City — The  Car- 
melites— Tract  Society — Death  of  Rev.  John  Tessier — Fourth 
Provincial  Council — New  Sees — A  Bishop  for  Richmond — 
Redemptorists — Fifth  Provincial  Council 441 

CHAPTER  III. 

DIOCESE  OF   BOSTON. 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  J.  Fenwick,  Second  Bishop,  1829-1843. 
Cemetery  on  Bunker  Hill — Opposition — Rev.  Jeremiah  O'Callaghan 
in  Vermont — Rebecca  Reed  and  Lyman  Beecher — Conversion 
of  T.  A.  Gough — Sisters  of  Charity — New  Churches — Monu- 
ment to  F.  Sebastian  Rale — Benedicta — Riot  and  Destruction 
of  the  Ursuline  Convent — Trials  and  Acquittals — Compensation 
refused  —  Ursulines  fail  to  restore  Academy  —  Mount  St. 
James — German  Congregation — St.  Mary's  Church,  Burling- 
ton, set  on  fire  and  destroyed — New  Churches — Trouble  in 
Boston — First  Diocesan  Synod — College  of  the  Holy  Cross — See 
of  Hartford 463 

CHAPTER  IV. 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  DuBois,  Third  Bishop,  1839-1842. 
Half-orphan  Asylum — New  Churches — St.  Mary's  Church  set  on 
fire — Controversies— The  Cholera — College  at  Nyack — Its  De- 
struction— St.  Joseph's  Church — The  Weekly  Register — Con- 
versions —  Trustee  Troubles  —  German  Congregation  —  St. 
Nicholas  Church — The  Maria  Monk  Imposture — Col.  Stone 
exposes  it — Col.  Dodge's  Conversion — A  Coadjutor  Solicited — 
Rt.  Rev.  John  Hughes — The  Trustee  Question — Triumph  of 
Bishop  Hughes — Conversion  of  Rev.  M.  Oertel — Lafargeville 
Seminarv  and  College 495 


XVi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  V. 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Hughes,  Administrator,  1839-1843 — Bishop  of 

New  York,  1843-1843. 

Bishop  Hughes  in  Europe — Ladies  of   the  Sacred  Heart  —  The 

School  Question— The  Great  Debate— The  Carroll  Hall  Ticket 

— End  of   the  Public  School  Society  —  St.   John's    College, 

Fordham 533 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DIOCESE  OP  PHILADELPHIA. 

The  Poor  Clares — Rt.  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick,  Bishop  of 
Arath  and  Coadjutor,  1839-1843. 
Visitation — St.  Mary's  and  the  end  of  the  Schism  Synod  of  1833 — 
The  Cholera — St.  John's  Church — Hughes  and  Breckenridge 
Controversy — Gallitzin's  "  Letters  of  Advice  " — Death  of  Rev. 
Chax'les  B.  Maguire — Seminary  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo — The 
Jesuits  return  to  St.  Joset)h's — Proposed  Division  of  Diocese — 
Rev.  Michael  O'Connor,  Superior  of  the  Seminary — Fourth 
Council  of  Baltimore  —  The  Redemptorists  and  the  Factory 
Church  at  Pittsburgh — The  School  Question — Works  issued 
by  Bishop  Kenrick — Death  of  Bishop  Con  well 544 

CHAPTER  Vn. 

DIOCESE   OF   PHILADELPHIA. 

Rt.  Rev.  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick,  Third  Bishop,  1843-1843. 
The  Jubilee — Synod  of  1843 — Churches — Erection  of  the  See  of 

Pittsburgh 570 

CHAPTER  Vin. 

DIOCESE    OF    RICHMOND. 

Rt.  Rev.  Richard  Vincent  Whelan,  Second  Bishop,  1841-1843. 
Sketch — Mission  Work    in   Virginia— Consecration — Energy — Fe- 
male Academy  at  Richmond  —  Churches  —  Liberty  of  Con- 
science in  the  U.  S.  Army 575 

CHAPTER  IX. 

DIOCESE    OF    CHARLESTON. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  England,  First  Bishop,  1839-1843  ;  Rt.  Rev. 
William  Clancy,  Bishop  of  Orien,  Coadjutor,  1834-1837. 
Sisters  of  our  Lady  of  Mercy  founded — Visitations — Synod  of  1831 
— In  Europe — Ursuline  Nuns — The  Haytian  Mission — A  Coad- 
jutor— Rt.  Rev.  William  Clancy — His  Career — The  Charleston 
Conflagration — Appeals  for  Aid — New  Constitution — Visit  to 
Europe — Illness — Death 580 

Very    Rev.    Richard  Swinton  Baker,   Administrator, 

1841-1844. 

Progress — Financial  Management-  -Death  of  Judge  Gaston 595 


CONTENTS.  xvil 

CHAPTER  X. 

DIOCESE    OP    BARDSTOWN. 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  First  Bishop,  1829-1832. 
Consecration  of  Bishop  Kenrick — Resignation  of  Bishop  Flaget — 
The  Society  of  Jesus  accept  St.  Mary's  College — Death  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Byrne — Resignation  accepted 594 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Baptist  David,  Second  Bishop,  1832-1833. 
Discontent  in  the  Diocese — Bishop  David  resigns — Bishop  Flaget 
and  Bishop  Rosati  write  with  him  to  Rome — Bishop  David's 
last  Days 600 

Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  J.  Flaget,  Third  Bishop,  1833-1843. 
Bishop  Flaget  restored — Rt.  Rev.  Guy  I.  Chabrat,  Coadjutor — A 
Catholic  Periodical — Tennessee — See  erected  at  Vincennes — 
.  Long  Absence  in  Europe — Bishop  Chabrat  administers  the  Dio- 
cese— The  Catholic  Advocate— Bishop  Chabrat  at  the  Council 
of  Baltimore  solicits  erection  of  a  See  at  Nashville — Death  of 
John  Lancaster,  Esq. — Of  Rev.  G.  A.  M.  Elder — Bishop  Flag 
et's  Return — Removes  to  Loui-sville — Sisters  of  Charity  of  the 
Good  Shepherd — Bishop  Chabrat's  ill  Health  and  threatened 
Blindness — He  goes  to  Europe 603 

CHAPTER  XI. 

DIOCESE    OF    CINCINNATI. 

Rt.  Rev.  Edward  Dominic  Fenwick,  First  Bishop,  1829-1832. 
Sisters  of  Charity  —  Indian  Missions  —  Indian  Students  sent  to 
Propaganda — Death  of    Bishop  Fenwick  and  Rev.    Gabriel 
Richard 618 

V.  Rev.  Frederic  Rese,  Administrator,  1832-1833. 
German  Church,  Cincinnati — Other  Churches 617 

CHAPTER  XII. 

DIOCESE    OP    CINCINNATI. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  Baptist  Purcell,  Second  Bishop,  1834-1843. 
Consecration — Redemptorists — New  Churches — Seminary — Bishop 
Purcell's  Controversy  with  Campbell — Der  Wahrheit's  Freund 
— Visit  to  Europe — Defends  this  Country  against  Bishop  Clancy 
— Book  Society — At  Cleveland — Death  of  Mother  Angela — St. 
Xavier's  College — Sisters  of  Notre  Dame 619 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

DIOCESE   OP    DETROIT. 

Rt.  Rev.  Frederic  Rese,  First  Bishop,  1833-1837. 
Rev.  Gabriel  Richard — Erection  of  See  of  Detroit — Previous  His- 
tory— Sketch  of  Rt.   Rev.  Frederic  Rese — Consecration — His 
Clergy — Visitation — Proposed  College — The  Poor  Clares — Pro- 
ceeds to  the  Council  of  Baltimore  and  resigns. ...    630 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

DIOCESE   OF    DETROIT.      1837-1843. 

Rt.  Rev.  Peter  Paul  Lefevre,  Bishop  of  Zela,  Administrator, 
1841-1843. 
Sketch  of  Bishop  Lefevre  —  Consecration  —  Destruction  of  Col- 
lege— Progress 638 

CHAPTER  XV. 

DIOCESE   OP   VENCENNES. 

Rt.  Rev.  Simon  Gabriel  Brute,  First  Bishop,  1834-1839. 
Erection    of    See — Biographical   Sketch — Consecration — State    oi 
Diocese — Visitation — Rev.  S.  P.  Lalumiere — Rev.  J.  M.  St.  Cyr 
— Bishop  Brute    in  Europe — Obtains  I^iests — His  Labors — 
Health  undermined — Laboring  to  the  last — His  Death 640 

CHAPTER   XVI. 

DIOCESE   OF   VINCENNES. 

Rt.  Rev.  Celestine  A.  L.  Guvnemer  de  la  Hailandi^re,  Second 

Bishop,  1839-1843. 

Sketch — Condition  of  Diocese — Shameful  Conspiracy  against  Rev. 

R.  Weinzoepflen — His  Innocence  established — Rev.   Mr.   Des- 

seille — Rev.  Edward  Sorin  begins  his  great  Work  at  Notre 

Dame — Discontent 650 

CHAPTER   XVII. 

DIOCESE   OF    KASHVILLE. 

Rt.  Rev.  Richard  Pius  Miles,  First  Bishop,  1838-1843. 
Erection  of  See — Sketch  of  Rt.  Rev.  D.  Miles — Consecration — At 
Nashville — Visitation — Prostrated  by  Sickness — Seeks  Aid   in 
Europe— Condition  in  1843 656 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

DIOCESE  OF  NATCHEZ. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  J.  Clanche,  First  Bishop,  1841-1843. 
Vicariate  Apostolic  of  Mississippi  1836— See  of  Natchez  erected — 
Sketch — Organizes  Diocese 660 


BOOK  V. 

CHAPTER  I. 

DIOCESE    OP  NEW   ORLEANS. 

Rt.  Rev.  Leo  R.  de  Neckc^re,  First  Bishop,  1829-1833. 
Sketch — Consecration— Synod— Sisters  of  Charity — Yellow  Fever — 

Death 666 


CONTENTS.  xix 

CHAPTER  II. 

BIOCESE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS. 

Rt.  Rev.  Anthony  Blanc,  Second  Bishop,  1835-1843. 
Sketch — Consecration — The  Jesuits  return — Seminary  under  the 
Lazarists   St.  Patrick's  Church — St.    Augustine's — Schismatic 
Trustees — Pope  and  Courts  against  them 672 

CHAPTER  III. 

DIOCESE  OP  ST.  LOUIS. 

Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  First  Bishop,  1829-1843. 
Progress  in  Diocese — Jesuit  College  in  St.  Louis — New  Churches — 
The  Shepherd  of  the  Valley — Visitation  Nuns  at  Kaskaskia — 
Arkansas — State  of  Diocese — Oregon  Mission — John  Mullan- 
phy — Cathedral  Dedicated  —  Threatened  Withdrawal  of  the 
Lazarists — Sisters  of  St.  Joseph — Illinois — Death  of  F.  C.  Van 
Quickenborne — Synod— A  Coadjutor — Haytian  Mission 681 

CHAPTER  IV. 

DIOCESE  OP  MOBILE. 

Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Portier,  First  Bishop,  1829-1843. 
Returns  with    Priests — St.    Augustine  —  Absurd   Decision — Visits 
and  dines  at  Mobile — Spring  Hill  College — Cathedral — Ladies 
of  the  Retreat 697 

CHAPTER  V. 

DIOCESE  OF  DUBUQUE. 

Rt.  Rev.  Mathias  Loras,  First  Bishop,  1837-1843. 
Erection  of  See — Sketch — Ordination— Visits    Europe  —  At    Du- 
buque— Visitation — Wisconsin. .   702 


BOOK  VI. 

CHAPTER    L 

VICARIATE  APOSTOLIC  OF  TEXAS. 

Rt.  Rev.  John  M.  Odin,  Bishop  of  Claudiopolis  and  Vicar- 
Apostolic. 
History  from  1760 — San  Antonio  and  the  Missions — Bishop  Marin 
— The  Imposter  Mier — Irish  Priests — Murder  of  Father  An- 
thony Dias  de  Leon,  O.S.F. — Visit  and  Report  of  Very  Rev. 
John  Timon — Appointed  Prefect— Rev.  J.  M.  Odin,  Vice-Pre- 
fect— Rev.  Mr.  Odin  made  Vicar- Apostolic  —  Churches — Old 
Church  Property  Secured 706 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Portrait  of  Most  Rev.  Leonard 
Neale,  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more   

Signature  of  Archbishop  Neale. 

Tomb  of  Archbishop  Neale,  in 
the  crypt  of  the  Visitation 
Church 

Portrait  of  Most  Rev.  Ambrose 
Marechal,  Archbishop  of  Bal- 
timore  

Signature  of  Archbishop  Mare- 
chal  

Signature  of  Bishop  Kelly 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Patrick 
Kelly,  Bishop  of  Richmond. . 

Portrait  of  Most  Rev.  James 
Whitfield,  Archbishop  of  Bal- 
timore  

Signature  of  Archbishop  Whit- 
field   

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  Chev- 
erus,  Bishop  of  Boston. to  face 

Portrait  of  V.  Rev.  Francis 
Matignon,  D.D 

Signature  of  Dr.  Matignon 

Signature  of  Very  Rev.  William 
Taylor,  Administrator 

Signature  of  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict 
J.  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Boston. 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  J. 
Fenwick 

View  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral, 
New  York  

Signature  of  Rt.  Rev.  John 
Connolly,  Second  Bishop  of 
New  York 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  Con- 
nolly  

Portrait  and  Signature  of  V. 
Rev.  John  Power,  Adminis- 
trator ...  

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  Du 
Bois,  Third  Bishop  of  New 
York 


PAGE  PAGE 

Signature  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  Du 
Bois 199 

24    Seal    of    Rt.    Rev.    John    Du 

33       Bois 207 

Signature  of  V.  Rev.  Louis  de 
Barth,  Administrator 226 

37  Seal  of  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Conwell, 
Second  Bishop  of'  Philadel- 
phia  226 

40  Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Con- 
well  229 

52    Signature  of    Rt.    Rev.   Henry 

76  Conwell 258 

Portrait   of    V.    Rev.    William 

77  Matthews,  Administrator 263 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  J. 

Flaget,  Bishop  of  Bardstowu. 

102  to  face  270 
Signature    of    Rt.    Rev.    John 

103  B.  David,  Bishop  of  Mauri- 
castro 288 

112    Portrait    of    Rev.    Stephen    T. 

Badin 296 

122    Seal  of  Bishop  England 319 

122    Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Edward  D. 
Fenwick,  first  Bishop  of  Cin- 

131        cinnati 331 

Signature  of  Bishop  Fenwick . .  335 

134   Church  at  Dungannon,  O 337 

Chri.st  Church,  Cincinnati 340 

136    Cathedral,  Seminary,  and  Athe- 

neum,  Cincinnati 351 

169    Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Louis  Wil- 
liam   Du  Bourg,   Bishop    of 

Louisiana 357 

173    Portrait  of  Very  Rev.  Felix  de 
Andreis,  founder  of  the  Laza- 

173       rists  in  the  U.  S 368 

Parish  Church  St.   Augustine, 
erected     by     Rev.     Michael 

189       O'Reilly 374 

Tomb  of  Rev.  Michael  O'Reilly.  376 

Signature  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg.    379 

193   Signature  of  Bishop  Rosati. . . .  381 

xxi 


XXll 


ILL  USTRA  TIONS. 


PAGE 

New    Ursuline    Convent,   New 

Orleans 383 

Seal  of  Bishop  Rosati 392 

Portrait    of    Rt.    Rev.    Joseph 

Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis..  394 
Portrait   of    Rt.    Rev.    Michael 
Portier,  Bishop  of  Oleno.   . . .  402 

Signature  of  Bishop  Portier 404 

View    of    Visitation     Convent, 

Georgetown 424 

Portrait  of  Most  Rev.  Samuel 
Eccleston,  fifth  Archbishop  of 

Baltimore 440 

Portrait  of    Father    John    Mc- 

Elroy,  S.J 446 

Signature  of  Archbishop  Eccles- 
ton   450 

Portrait  of  Father  James  Ryder, 

S.J 458 

View  of  Monument  to  Father 
S.   Rale,   erected    by  Bishop 

Fenwick 471 

Ruins  of  the  Ursuline  Convent, 

Mount  St.  Benedict 477 

View  of  Mount  St.  James  and 

Holy  Cross  College 492 

Seal  of  Bishop  Fenwick 494 

Portrait  of  V.  Rev.  Felix  Varela  507 

View  of  Carroll  Hall 531 

View  of    St.    John's    College, 

Fordham 534 

Signature  of  V.    Rev.   William 

Matthews 544 

View  of  St.  John's  Church. . . .  551 
View  of  St.  Augustine's  Church  561 
Seal  of  Bishop  Francis  P.  Ken- 
rick 562 

Seal  of  Bishop  Conwell 569 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Richard  V. 
Whelan,  first  Bishop  of  Rich- 
mond   574 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  Eng- 
land, Bishop  of  Charleston, 

to  face  582 
Signature  of  Bishop  England. .  585 
Signature  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  B. 

David,  Bishop  of  Bardstown.  600 
Signature  of  Bishop  Chabrat. .  604 
Signature  of  V.  Rev.  Frederic 
Rese 617 


PAGE 

Signature  of  Right  Rev.  John  B. 
Purcell,  second  Bishop  of  Cin- 
cinnati      618 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Frederic 
Rese,  first  Bishop  of  Detroit..  629 

Signature  of  Bishop  Lef evre . . .  637 

Portrait  of  Rev.  J.  M.  J.  St. 
Cyr :....   641 

St.  Xavier's  Cathedral,  Vin- 
eennes,  sketched  by  Bishop 
Brute 643 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute, 
First     Bishop    of  Vincennes 

to  face  648 

Signature  of  Bishop  Brute 648 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Celestine  de 
la  HailandiSre,  Second  Bishop 
of  Vincennes 651 

Signature  of  Bishop  de  la  Hailan- 
di^re 655 

Signature  of  Rt.  Rev.  R.  P. 
Miles,  first  Bishop  of  Nash- 
ville   659 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  J. 
Chanche,  First  Bishop  of 
Natchez 661 

Signature  of  Bishop  Chanche. .  665 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Leo.  R.  de 
Neckere,  First  Bishop  of  New 
Orleans 667 

Portrait  of  Rt.  Rev.  Anthony 
Blanc,  Second  Bishop  of  New 
Orleans 673 

View  of  St.  Patrick's  Church, 
New   Orleans 677 

Signature  of  Bishop  Blanc 678 

Seal  of  Bishop  Blanc 680 

View  of  Cathedral,  St.  Louis, 
Missouri 698 

Signature  of  Rt.  Rev.  Mathias 
Loras,  Bishop  of  Dubuque. . .  703 

Mission  Church  of  La  Con- 
cepcion 708 

Signature  of  Bishop  Marin  de 
Boeras 710 

Signature  of  Rev.  F.  Jose  An- 
tonio Dias  de  Leon 714 

Mission  Church  of  San  Juan 
Capistrano 720 


MOST   REV.    LEONARD  NEALE,    SECOND    ARCHBISHOP   OF   BALTIMORE. 


24 


BOOK  I. 

PROVINCE    OF    BALTIMORE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DIOCESE   OF   BALTIMORE. 
MOST  KEY.   LEONARD  NEALE,   SECOND  ARCHBISHOP,   1815-1817. 

The  Church  emerging  from  the  bondage  and  oppres- 
sion of  Colonial  days,  had  at  last,  after  difficulties 
created  at  home  and  abroad,  been  organized  in  the 
United  States  under  a  bishop,  and  for  a  quarter  of  a 
century  under  the  guidance  of  Archbishop  Carroll  had 
been  acquiring  a  solid  and  settled  form  and  character. 

For  fifteen  years  the  Right  Rev.  Leonard  ISTeale, 
Bishop  of  Gortyna,  as  coadjutor,  had  labored  to  main- 
tain discipline,  and  develop  institutions  for  the  educa- 
tion of  youth  of  both  sexes.  Of  Georgetown  College 
he  was  long  actually  President,  and  constantly  the 
guiding  spirit ;  of  the  community  formed  by  Miss 
Teresa  Lalor,  he  was  the  director  and  spiritual  guide. 

Simple  and  austere  in  his  habits,  he  sought  no  in- 
fluence among  persons  in  national  or  social  circles,  but 
led  a  retired  life,  long  occupying  the  small  library  room 
in  the  south  building  of  Georgetown  College,  opposite 
the  community  chapel.  His  bed  was  folded  up  in  the 
form  of  a  cupboard  during  the  day,  and  spread  out  at 
night  by  the  colored  man  who  attended  the  refectory. 

This  was  his  style  as  a  Bishop  even  when  infirmities 
increased  more  rapidly  than  his  years.     His  life  was  as 

25 


26  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

regular  as  that  of  a  novice.  Every  morning  he  rose  at 
four  o'clock,  made  his  visit  to  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
and  after  an  hour's  meditation,  offered  the  holy  sac- 
rifice.^ When  subsequently  he  left  the  College  he 
occupied  a  small  house  near  the  Visitation  Convent, 
leading  the  same  simple  mortified  life.  On  the  death 
of  Archbishop  Carroll  in  December,  1815,  the  whole 
burthen  of  the  diocese  devolved  upon  him,  and  he 
became  Archbishop-elect  of  Baltimore.  Though  in 
precarious  health,  suffering  constantly  from  diseases 
contracted  in  the  deadly  jungles  of  South  America, 
Dr.  Neale  was  still  firm,  vigorous  and  active  in  his 
mental  powers.  He  continued  to  reside  at  George- 
town, visiting  Baltimore  only  when  the  business  of  the 
diocese  required  it. 

One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  appoint  to  Norfolk, 
which  had  been  for  some  months  without  a  priest,  the 
Rev.  James  Lucas.  In  his  letter  introducing  the  suc- 
cessor of  Rev.  Mr.  Lacy  to  the  congregation  the  Arch- 
bishop-elect said  :  "You  have  been  informed  how  it 
has  pleased  Heaven  to  deprive  the  See  of  Baltimore  of 
its  Most  Reverend  and  justly  lamented  Archbishop 
Carroll,  who,  for  many  years  had  filled  the  sacred  post 
of  Prelate  with  such  dignity,  prudence  and  integrity, 
as  to  command  the  esteem,  respect  and  veneration  of 
all  who  knew  him.  His  labors  are  now  at  an  end, 
the  happy  commencement,  I  confide,  of  his  eternal 
rewards."  ^ 

The  trustees  gave  the  new  pastor  a  most  uncouth 
reception,  claiming  the   right  of  patronage,  and  the 


'  Woodstock  Letters,  iii.,  p.  90.     For  the  previous  period  of  his  life 
see  "Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,"  pp.  206,  etc. 

*  Archbishop  Neale  to  Congregation  of  Norfolk,  Baltimore,  Dec.  13, 
1815. 


NORFOLK  SCHISM.  27 

power  of  choosing  a  priest  for  the  congregation.  Arch- 
bishop Neale  prepared  to  oppose  the  pernicious  system 
of  lay  trustees,  in  which  he  beheld  manifold  dangers. 

"The  pretended  right  of  choosing  their  priest  or 
missionary  pastor  is  perfectly  unfounded,  for  they  are 
not  patrons  of  the  Church  according  to  the  language 
of  the  Council  of  Trent,  who  alone  have  a  right  of 
choosing  their  pastor.  In  the  diocese  of  Baltimore 
none  but  the  Archbishop  can  place  or  remove  a  priest ; 
and  that  he  can  do  at  will,  as  there  are  no  parishes 
established  here,  no  benefices  conferred,  and  no  colla- 
tions made,  and  no  powers  granted  but  what  are  merely 
missionary,  revocable  at  will.  Hence  the  trustees  can 
claim  no  jurisdiction  over  their  priest,  nor  prevent  his 
missionary  functions."^ 

In  a  letter  to  the  Trustees  the  Archbishop  clearly 
and  distinctly  maintained  his  position  ;  and  he  Avas 
all  the  more  firm  as  the  validity  of  the  election  of 
trustees  and  of  the  title  to  the  property  was  very 
doubtful.^ 

Led  by  Dr.  John  F.  Oliveira  Fernandez,  Jasper 
Moran,  and  a  few  like  them,  a  party  was  formed 
which  excluded  Rev.  Mr.  Lucas  from  the  church,  and 
the  priest  lawfully  appointed  by  the  Archbishop  was 
compelled  to  hire  a  house  on  Bermuda  Street,  where 
he  officiated  for  the  sound  part  of  the  congregation. 
Archbishop  Neale  then  placed  the  church  under  an 
interdict,  but  the  schismatics  remained  obstinate  and 
assailed  the  venerable  and  holy  prelate  in  a  series  of 
publications.^ 

'  Archbisliop  Neale  to  Rev.  James  Lucas,  Georgetown,  March  6,  1816. 

-  Same  to  Trustees  of  Norfolk,  July  5,  1816. 

*  Moran,  "  A  Vindicatory  Address  ;  or  an  Appeal  to  the  Calm  Feel- 
ings and  unbiased  Judgments  of  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Norfolk,  Ports- 


28         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Messrs.  Lynch  and  Stoughton  in  New  York  as  Trus- 
tees of  St.  Peter  s  Church  had  taken  a  similar  stand 
against  Bishop  Carroll,  and  the  Trustees  of  St.  Joim's 
Church,  Baltimore,  had  actually  prevented  his  enter- 
ing the  church  ;  and  in  Charleston  the  Trustees  showed 
the  same  spirit.  Against  this  usurpation,  Archbishop 
Neale  arrayed  himself  hrmly.  When  trustees  main- 
tained that  they  were  elected  by  pewholders  and  held 
authority  from  them,  the  Archbishop  replied  that  the 
pews  belonged  to  the  Church,  not  the  Church  to  the 
pews. 

Archbishop  Marechal  subsequently  spoke  of  Dr. 
Neale's  hrmness  on  this  point.  "His  venerable  suc- 
cessor. Archbishop  Neale,  fired  by  an  all  but  immense 
love  of  God  and  of  the  Church,  maturely  weighing 
the  evils  which  resulted  from  the  Trustee  system, 
opposed  it  with  all  his  manly  courage  and  constantly 
rejected  it."^ 

The  pious  community  of  Sisters  which  Dr.  Neale  had 
so  long  directed  had  never  yet  been  canonically  organ- 
ized, although  the  Sisters  had  since  1813  made  simple 
vows  and  renewed  them  annually.  Resisting  all  at- 
tempts to  blend  their  house  with  other  communities. 
Mother  Teresa  Lalor  and  her  sisters  sought  to  estab- 
lish a  convent  of  the  Yisitation  order.  When  their 
founder  succeeded  to  the  see  of  Baltimore,  they  were 
one  of  the  first  objects  of  his  solicitude.  Archbishop 
Neale  forwarded  a  petition  to  Rome  soliciting  an 
Indult  to  erect  the  community  into  a  Monastery  of  the 

mouth,  and  their  vicinity,"  etc. ;  Oliveira,  "To  the  Roman  Catholics  of 
Norfolk,"  broadside  ;  "An  Address  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Congrega- 
tion of  Norfolk  ;  or  a  short  Exposition  of  their  Rights,"  etc.,  10  pp. 
"  Letter  addressed  to  the  Most  Rev.  Leonard  Neale,  Archbishop  of  Bal- 
timore," pp.  47. 

'  Letter  to  the  Propaganda,  1818. 


VISITATION  NUNS.  29 

Visitation  order.  The  Sovereign  PontiiJ  readily 
granted  the  prayer,  and  by  his  Brief  of  July  24, 
1817,  Archbishop  Neale  was  enabled  to  establish  can- 
onical ly  as  a  house  of  the  Visitation  order,  founded 
by  the  holy  Doctor  Saint  Francis  de  Sales  and  by 
Saint  Jane  Frances  de  Chantal,  the  community  which 
had  so  patiently  labored  for  the  good  of  religion  in 
Georgetown.  Never  were  perseverance,  piety,  and 
prayer  more  happily  crowned  than  in  the  solemn  act 
so  patiently  awaited  by  Mother  Teresa  Lalor  and  her 
spiritual  daughters.  The  Archbishop  of  Baltimore 
was  empowered  to  admit  them  to  the  solemn  profes- 
sion of  vows,  with  the  indulgences  and  privileges 
which  that  order  enjoys.^ 

The  indult  arrived  in  November,  and  on  the  28th  of 
December,  the  feast  of  the  Holy  Innocents,  Mother 
Teresa  (Lalor),  Sister  Frances  (McDermott),  and  Sister 
Agnes  (Brent),  mistress  of  novices,  took  their  solemn 
vows  before  the  Mass,  which  was  celebrated  by  Arch- 
bishop Neale,  assisted  by  Father  Grassi.  The  profes- 
sions of  the  rest  of  the  community  were  made  on  the 
23d  and  28th  of  January.  The  Sisters  then  numbered 
thirty-three.  Well  might  the  holy  Archbishop  ex- 
claim :   "  The  Lord  be  praised  !  " 

The  regular  choir  service  had  been  instituted,  and 
all  the  members  were  exact  in  complying  with  the 
rules  of  the  order. ^ 

The  community,  endowed  with  new  life,  persevered 
though  threatened  with  such  poverty  that  at  one  time 
they  wrote  to  the  Ursulines  in  Canada  and  New 
Orleans,  asking  them  to  receive  some  of  their  members 


'  Mgr.  Quarautotti  to  Archbishop  Neale,  July  14,  1816.     Annals  of 
the  Visitation. 

*  Archbishop  Neale  to  Rev.  Mother  Dickinson,  Dec.  21,  1816.     Aunals. 


30         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

for  a  time.  The  Abbe  Cloriviere,  who  subsequently 
became  their  spiritual  director,  aided  them  greatly, 
and  the  good  nuns  of  'New  Orleans  sent  them  provis- 
ions, vestments,  and  altar  linen.  Mother  Teresa  Lalor, 
having  seen  her  community  recognized  by  the  Head  of 
the  Church,  resigned  her  office  of  superior  on  Ascension 
Day,  1819. 

As  soon  as  they  were  recognized  at  Rome,  Visitation 
Convents  at  Chambery,  Chaillot,  and  Shepton  Mallet 
began  to  correspond  with  them,  furnishing  valuable 
books. 

The  Visitation  Convent  at  Georgetown  thus  firmly 
established  by  Archbishop  Neale  became  a  fruitful 
mother,  filiations  from  it  arising  in  time  at  Baltimore, 
Mobile,  Kaskaskia,  St.  Louis,  Brooklyn,  and  Park- 
ville.i 

In  the  spring  of  1816  the  venerable  Mr.  Nagot, 
founder  of  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore,  began  to 
fail  rai)idly,  having  never  fully  recovered  from  a  fall 
some  time  before.  On  the  9th  of  April,  Tuesday  in 
Holy  AVeek,  he  gave  up  his  soul  to  God,  without  agony 
or  convulsion,  but  like  one  who  falls  into  a  gentle  sleep. 
The  illustrious  founder  of  the  Sulpitians  in  the  United 
States  is  one  of  the  grand  figures  of  our  early  Church, 
the  spiritual  father  of  many  who  for  a  century  have 
ministered  at  the  altar  of  God.  His  loss  was  especially 
deplored  by  Archbishop  Neale,  who  despite  his  infir- 
mities came  the  next  day  to  officiate  at  his  funeral 
rites. ^ 

On  the  3d  of  April,  1816,  the  Archbishop  by  an  agree- 

'  De  Courcy,  "Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States,"  New  York, 
1856,  pp.  79,  94. 

^  Garnier,  "  Epoqucs  du  Seminaire."     A  tomb  was  subsequently  con- 
structed bearing  a  suitable  inscription. 


THE  PALLIUM.  31 

ment  entered  into  with  Rev.  Father  John  Grassi,  for- 
mally restored  to  the  Society  of  Jesus  its  old  missions 
and  placed  under  their  care  the  churches  of  St.  Ini- 
goe's,  Newtown,  St.  Thomas,  with  their  dependencies, 
Whitemarsh,  Deer  Creek,  Bohemia,  St.  Joseph's,  Fred- 
erick, Georgetown,  Alexandria,  St.  Patrick's  church 
in  Washington,  Queen's  Chapel  and  Rock  Creek,  which 
they  were  to  supply  with  priests  of  the  order  or 
seculars  approved  by  the  Archbishop.^  The  Very 
Rev.  Edmund  Burke,  whom  we  have  seen  laboring  in 
Michigan  and  Ohio,  was  about  this  time  in  Rome  and 
was  appointed  by  the  Holy  See  to  solicit  the  pallium 
for  Archbishop  Neale,  and  to  deliver  it  to  him  on  his 
return.^ 

As  the  year  was  drawing  to  a  close  the  pallium 
arrived  for  the  Archbishop  elect,  and  Bishop  Cheverus 
came  on  from  Boston  to  confer  it.  On  reaching  Balti- 
more he  found  that  Dr.  Neale  Avas  too  feeble  to  come  to 
that  city.  He  accordingly  proceeded  to  Georgetown, 
and  on  the  19th  day  of  November  imposed  the  sacred 
symbol  of  the  archiepiscopal  dignity.^  Archbishop 
Neale  felt  the  necessity  of  securing  the  appointment 
of  a  coadjutor,  and  he  desired  especially  to  secure 
Bishop  Cheverus,  whose  merit  he  well  knew.  He 
employed  many  arguments  and  entreaties,  but  finding 
Dr.  Cheverus  determined  not  to  leave  Boston,  he  sub- 
mitted several  names  to  him,  among  which  Bishop 
Cheverus  recommended  especially  the  Rev.  Ambrose 
Marechal,  who  had  already  been  proposed  for  the  sees 
of  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  was  consequently 


'  Agreement  Georgetown  April  3,  1816. 

"^  Mgr.  Quarantotti  to  Archbishop  Neale,  July  14,  1816. 

3  Tessier,  "  f^poques  du  Seminaire."    Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop 
Neale. 


32         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

well  known  in  Rome.  The  Archbishop  acted  on  his 
suggestion,  and  forwarded  the  name  of  the  learned 
and  zealous  Sulpitian  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff. 

On  the  24th  of  January,  1817,  to  provide  for  a  vacancy 
of  the  see  Archbishop  Neale  formally  appointed  the 
Rev.  Ambrose  Marechal,  Vicar-G-eneral,  "to  govern 
and  administer  the  diocese  of  Baltimore  at  my  quit- 
ting this  see,  either  by  death  or  otherwise,  until  a  new 
appointment  be  made,"  and  also  announced  to  him 
his  proposed  appointment  as  Coadjutor. 

Affairs  in  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  needed  a  firm 
hand.  Archbishop  Neale  ordered  Rev.  Mr.  Browne 
under  pain  of  suspension  to  return  to  his  mission  at 
Augusta,  which  he  had  abandoned  in  order  to  act  as 
assistant  to  Rev.  Mr.  Gallagher  at  Charleston,  but  in- 
stead of  obeying,  that  priest  proceeded  to  Rome.  Gal- 
lagher persevered  for  a  time  in  spite  of  his  sus23ension, 
but  at  last  touched  with  remorse  he  went  to  Arch- 
bishop Neale,  admitted  his  fault,  and  professed  a 
readiness  to  undergo  any  penance  imposed.  The 
Archbishop  required  him  to  go  to  New  York  and 
make  a  week's  retreat  under  the  direction  of  Bishop 
Connolly,  to  whom  the  Archbishop  gave  power  to  ab- 
solve him.  Rev.  Mr.  Gallagher  was  then  to  receive 
letters  dismissory,  the  Archbishop  declining  to  avail 
himself  in  future  of  his  services,  or  even  permit  him  to 
say  mass  at  Charleston.  To  all  this  the  clergyman 
agreed,  and  after  his  censures  were  removed  by  Bishop 
Connolly  he  proceeded  to  Philadelphia. 

Meanwhile  Rev.  Mr.  Browne  had  laid  a  mass  of 
false  and  garbled  statements  before  the  Propaganda, 
and  returned  with  a  peremptory  letter  from  Cardinal 
Litta,  in  which  Gallagher  and  Browne  were  repre- 
sented as  men  of  the  most  eminent  piety  and  exem- 
plary life  whom  the  Archbishop  had  unjustly  deprived 


LETTER  TO   THE  POPE.  33 

of  their  charge  in  order  to  place  there  a  French  priest. 
To  prevent  the  Catholics  of  Charleston  from  all  be- 
coming Protestants  he  proceeds  to  say  that  the  Pope 
commanded  the  Archbishop  to  show  cause  why  he  had 
removed  those  clergymen,  and  to  reinstate  them  and 
permit  them  to  continue  during  the  pendency  of  the 
case  at  Rome  :  he  was  commanded  to  remove  Rev. 
Mr.  Cloriviere  from  all  cure  of  souls  at  Charleston,  and 
if  the  Archbishop  refused,  the  orders  were  executed 
ipso  facto  by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  himself.' 

This  extraordinary  communication  was  handed  open 
to  Archbishop  Neale  by  Gallagher  in  person. 

The  Archbishop  at  once  addressed  Pope  Pius  VII., 
stating  that  Gallagher  had  been  suspended  by  his  pre- 


SIGNATURE   OF   ARCHBISHOP   NEALE. 

decessor  for  gross  and  notorious  intemperance  ;  and 
that  he  himself  had  been  compelled  to  pursue  the 
same  course  by  his  continued  misconduct ;  that  after 
suspension  he  returned  to  Charleston,  drove  Rev.  Mr. 
Cloriviere  from  the  church,  and  held  it  with  Browne, 
who  had  abandoned  his  own  mission  at  Augusta  and 
gone  to  Charleston  without  any  authority,  and  in  de- 
fiance of  the  Archbishop.  That  the  chapel  used  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Cloriviere  was  attended  by  all  Catholics 
attached  to  their  religion,  and  who  approached  the 
sacraments,  while  Gallagher  had  few,  not  one  in  ten 
of  whom  ever  received  holy  communion.     He  told  of 

'  Cardinal  Litta  to  Archbishop  Neale,  Oct.  5,  1816. 


34         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Gallagher's  repentance  and  submission,  and  how  when 
scandal  had  at  last  been  removed,  Cardinal  Litta's 
letter  arrived.  "Most  Holy  Father,"  he  continued, 
"  is  it  thus  the  faith  is  propagated  ?  Is  this  the  way 
to  treat  archbishops  who  in  penurj^,  amid  countless 
difficulties  and  miseries,  labor  for  the  faith  and  salva- 
tion of  souls  even  to  decrepit  age,  and  who  sink  under 
the  bitter  burthen  ?  I  can  scarcely  believe  that  such 
an  order  emanated  from  the  Holy  See,  or  surely  if  it  did 
emanate,  it  must  have  been  obtained  surreptitiously  : 
for  by  this  course, the  door  is  opened  to  every  rebellion 
in  this  distant  country,  and  means  are  given,  as  I  think, 
for  the  destruction  of  religion,  for  the  children  of  this 
world  are  more  j)rudent  than  the  children  of  light. 
Before  truth  can  reach  Rome  deceit  and  falsehood 
have  already  occupied  the  ground,  and  because  they 
are  supported  by  the  testimony  of  faithless  men,  they 
find  credit  and  advocates,  my  declarations  being  neg- 
lected because  they  are  not  upheld  by  the  number  and 
seal  of  men  without  faith,  or  because  my  poverty  does 
not  permit  me  to  have  a  jDrocurator  or  a  defender  at 
Rome,  for  I  and  my  brethren,  bishops  of  this  country, 
are  much  poorer  than  the  rest  of  the  clergy.  Would 
that  your  Holiness  had  leisure  to  examine  my  letters 
and  documents  forwarded  to  the  Sacred  Congregation  ; 
I  might  hope  for  a  prompt  remedy  to  our  evils."  ^ 

This  opened  the  eyes  of  the  authorities  in  Rome, 
and  they  saw  how  grossly  they  had  been  imposed 
upon.  When  the  zealous  Archbishop  had  already 
passed  away,  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  replied  that  the 
appeal  was  dismissed  ;  that  he  might  proceed  against 
the  refractory  priests,  confirming  all  he  might  do.^ 

'  Archbishop  Neale  to  Pope  Pius  VII.,  Georgetown,  March  6,  1817. 
2  Pope  Pius  VII.  to  Archbishop  Neale,  July  9, 1817. 


LAST  ILLNESS.  35 

There  were  consolations,  however.  On  the  13th  of 
April  the  procathedral  of  Baltimore  w^as  crowded  with 
a  devout  audience,  as  the  Archbishop  was  to  give  the 
Papal  Benediction  with  plenary  indulgence,  faculty- 
having  been  granted  him  to  confer  it  four  times  a 
year  within  the  limits  of  his  diocese.  This  was  one  of 
the  last  appearances  of  Archbishop  Neale  in  any 
function  at  Baltimore.^ 

He  still  continued  to  exert  himself  actively  for  the 
good  of  his  diocese.  Early  in  the  year  he  had  the 
consolation  of  seeing  a  Catholic  free  school  established 
in  Baltimore,  which  was  soon  incorporated  by  the 
legislature  of  Maryland.^ 

He  was  greatly  interested  in  the  conversion  of  Rev. 
Virgil  H.  Barber  and  his  family,  and  agreed  to  make 
provision  for  the  maintenance  of  Mrs.  Barber  and  her 
daughters,  but  he  did  not  live  to  carry  out  his  pious 
intentions. 

On  the  31st  of  May  he  performed  his  last  episcopal 
act,  conferring  the  order  of  priesthood  on  Rev.  Roger 
Baxter  and  Rev.  John  McElroy  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  and  Revs.  John  Franklin  and  Timothy  Ryan 
of  the  secular  clergy. 

Archbishop  Neale  seemed  to  have  a  premonition  of 
his  approaching  end.  After  offering  the  holy  sacri- 
fice in  the  Visitation  chapel  on  the  16tli  of  June  he 
said  to  Mother  Teresa  :  "  I  will  not  be  with  you  long." 
The  same  day  he  was  taken  suddenly  ill  ;  medical  aid 
seemed  unavailing,  he  grew  rapidly  worse,  and  Father 
Grassi,  who  had  attended  Archbishop  Carroll  in  his 
dying  hours,  now  administered  the  last  sacraments  to 
his  successor,  whose  case  excited  alarm.     Father  John 

'  Tessier,  "  fipoques  du  Seminaire." 

2  Scharf,  "  Chronicles  of  Baltimore,"  Baltimore,  1874,  p.  386. 


86         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

McEIroy,  with  Brother  Henry,  were  in  constant 
attendance.  About  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
Wednesday  the  18th  the  Archbishop  grew  much 
worse,  and  he  expired  at  ten  minutes  past  one,  while 
Father  McElroy,  kneeling  beside  the  bed,  was  reciting 
the  23rayers  for  a  departing  soul.  Mother  Teresa 
with  five  of  her  sisters,  was  in  the  chamber  of  death 
and  witnessed  the  holy  death  of  their  founder  and 
constant  benefactor.  His  brother  Charles  arrived 
before  he  expired,  but  Francis  not  till  some  time  after. 
Dr.  Marechal  had  been  summoned  from  Baltimore 
when  the  venerable  ArchbishoiD  was  stricken  down, 
but  did  not  arrive  till  after  he  had  expired  in  the 
resignation  to  God's  will  which  was  characteristic  on 
him. 

His  remains  were  taken  to  Trinity  Church,  where 
they  lay  in  state,  till  the  19tli,  Avhen  the  body  was 
transferred  to  the  Visitation  chapel  followed  by  eigh- 
teen priests  in  copes,  dalmatics,  or  surplices,  by  twenty 
scholastics  in  surplice,  and  a  hundred  college  students 
and  many  citizens.  On  the  mahogany  coffin  lined 
with  lead  was  a  silver  plate  bearing  in  Latin  this  in- 
scription :  "Died  the  18th  of  June,  1817,  at  George- 
town, Rt.  Rev.  Leonard  Neale,  second  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore  and  founder  of  the  Nuns  of  the  A'isita- 
tion  B.  M.,  aged  71  years."  ^ 

Mass  was  celebrated  in  the  chapel  of  the  Visitation 
by  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Marechal,^  and  the  body  was  then 
placed  in  a  vault  beneath  the  chapel,  where  it  still 
remains. 

Archbishop  Neale,  according  to  Brother  Mobberly, 

'F.  McElroy,  Diary,  June  17-19,  1817.     Annals  of  the  Visitation. 

2  Gamier,  "Epoques  du  Seminaire'';  Jenkins,  in  U.  S.  Cath.  Mag.,  iii., 
pp.  505-512. 


ESTIMATES  OF  ARCHBISHOP  NEALE. 


37 


S.  J.,  "  was  a  sincere  friend,  and  an  upright,  man.  In 
his  transactions  with  the  foolish  world,  he  was  too 
candid  to  be  agreeable.  He  never  courted  the  ap- 
plause of  men,  and  never  had  much  esteem  for  those 
who  did.  In  his  manners  he  was  plain  and  simple, 
not  elegant.  He  was  polite  without  ceremony.  He 
was  a  great  enemy  to  insinceritj^  and  was  extremely 


TOMB   OP   AKCnBISHOP   NEALE   IN   THE   CRYPT   OP   THE 
VISITATION    CHAPEL. 


rough  toward  those  who,  he  believed,  intended  to 
practice  fraud.  His  candor  rendered  him  unpopular. 
It  was  a  principle  with  him  to  weigh  matters  well  be- 
fore he  resolved.  When  after  mature  deliberation  he 
had  arranged  his  plans,  no  arguments  could  induce 
him  to  change  them.  Hence  he  was  very  tenacious  of 
his  own  opinion.     He  was  strictly  pious  but  not  rigid. 


38         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

He  always  supported  his  authority  with  vigor  and 
enforced  regularity  of  life  in  very  strong  terms." 

"As  an  orator  I  always  admired  him.  I  never 
heard  a  man  that  pleased  me  so  well  as  he  did.  He 
wrote  nothing  and  prepared  nothing,  for  it  seems  he 
was  always  prej^ared.  He  always  preaclied  on  tlie 
gospel  of  the  day  except  when  a  funeral  occurred." 

"He  possessed  a  great  flow  of  words  and  was 
master  of  a  great  fund  of  choice  expressions.  I  never 
saw  him  embarrassed." 

His  spiritual  daughters  of  the  Visitation  more 
reverently  described  him  as  "remarkable  for  great 
meekness,  equanimity,  and  placidity  of  soul,  of  con- 
duct, and  of  speech.  Never  did  he  betray  irritation 
or  impatience,  bitterness  or  resentment  toward  any 
one,  whatever  provocation  he  may  have  had.  Never 
did  eagerness,  hurry,  or  precipitation  appear  in  his 
actions."  ^ 


'  Br.  Joseph  P.  Mobberly,  Memorandum  Book.     Annals  of  the  Visita- 
tion. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DIOCESE  OF  BALTIMOEE. 

MOST  EEV.  AMBROSE  MARECHAL,  THIRD  ARCHBISHOP,  1817-1820. 

The  Most  Reverend  Ambrose  Mareclial,  wlio  was 
elected  to  succeed  Archbishop  Neale  in  the  see  of 
Baltimore,  was  a  Sulpitian,  a  priest  of  learning,  who 
as  professor  at  Georgetown  College  and  at  St.  Mary's 
Seminary  and  College  in  Baltimore  and  in  mission 
work  had  acquired  great  experience.  Few  clergymen 
in  the  country  were  more  highly  esteemed.  He  had 
already  more  than  once  been  recommended  for  epis- 
copal honors  by  Archbishop  Carroll  and  by  Bishop 
Concanen. 

He  was  born  at  Ingres,  near  Orleans  in  France,  in 
1769,  of  a  good  family  who  gave  him  an  excellent 
college  education  to  fit  him  for  the  legal  profession. 
But  in  the  course  of  his  studies,  where  he  won  dis- 
tinction, he  felt  that  his  real  vocation  w^as  to  serve  God 
at  his  altar.  His  family  yielded  at  last  and  Ambrose 
entered  the  seminary  at  Orleans,  directed  by  the  priests 
of  St.  Sulpice.  His  talents,  modesty,  and  virtue  made 
the  Directors  yield  to  his  desire  to  be  received  into  their 
congregation.  He  was  ordained  priest  in  1792,  but 
before  he  had  said  his  first  mass  was  sent  to  Baltimore 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Emery,  the  Superior  of  the  Sulpitians. 
He  arrived  in  this  country  in  June,  and  after  offering 
the  holy  sacrifice  for  the  first  time  was  sent  to  Bohemia 
as  assistant  to  Rev.  Mr.  Beeston.  Here  he  rapidly 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  English,  and  when  it  was 
determined  to  open  a  class  of  philosophy  in  George- 

39 


40         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

town  College,  he  was  selected  for  the  professorship, 
which  he  discharged  with  ability.  While  subsequently 
attending  the  mission  of  Winchester,  in  Virginia,  he 
was  in  1803  summoned  back  to  France  by  his  Superior. 
He  was  appointed  professor  of  theology  in  the  Sulpitian 
seminaries  at  Saint  Fleur,  Aix,  and  Lyons,  acquiring 
in  all  those  institutions  a  high  reiDutation  for  learning 
and  ability.  The  pupils  whom  he  trained  for  the 
I)riesthood,  many  of  Avliom  subsequently  attained  liigh 
positions  in  the  Church  in  France,  retained  the  highest 
attachment  and  regard  for  their  old  professor.  During 
this  period  he  became  known  to  Right  Rev.  Richard 
Luke  Concanen,  the  lirst  bishop  of  New  York,  who 
finding  the  ^possibility  of  his  reaching  his  diocese  to  be 
very  slight,  urged  the  Holy  See  to  appoint  Rev.  Mr. 
Marechal  his  coadjutor.  The  action  of  Napoleon  in 
breaking  up  the  Sulpitian  seminaries  in  France  led  to 
Dr.  Marechars  return  to  the  United  States  in  1812. 
On  the  death  of  Bishop  Egan  he  was  strongly  recom- 
menden  by  Archbishop  Carroll  for  the  see  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  bulls  were  issued  January  16,  181G, 
electing  him  ;  but  when  they  arrived,  July  3,  Rev.  Mr. 
Marechal  returned  them,  declining  the  mitre.  He  had 
no  ambition  beyond  the  divinity  chair  in  St.  Marj^'s 
Seminar}'"  Avliich  he  filled  with  distinction.  Arch- 
bishoj)  Neale  relied  greatly  on  his  judgment,  and  at 
the  suggestion  of  Bishop  Cheverus  proposed  his  name 
to  the  Pope  as  coadjutor  of  Baltimore.  Overcoming 
his  reluctance  Archbishop  Neale  appointed  him  Vicar 
General  of  the  diocese  to  act  in  case  of  his  death  or 
absence.  The  bulls  appointing  Rev.  Ambrose  Mare- 
chal, Bishop  of  Stauropolis  and  coadjutor  of  Balti- 
more, or  in  case  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Neale,  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore,  were  issued  on  the  4tli  of  July,  1817,  but 
did  not  reach  the  Seminary  till  the  10th  of  November. 


DR.   MARECHAL  APPOINTED.  41 

On  the  4th  of  the  following  month  Rev.  Mr.  Marechal, 
having  prepared  for  his  arduous  dignity  by  retreat  and 
prayer,  was  consecrated  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  in 
St.  Peter's  procathedral  by  Bishop  Cheverus  of  Boston, 
Bishop  Connolly  of  New  York  and  Rev.  Mr,  De  Barth, 
Administrator  of  Philadelphia,  acting  as  assistant  pre- 
lates. The  sermon  on  the  occasion  was  preached  by 
the  eloquent  Augustinian  Father  Hurley.^ 

One  of  the  earliest  acts  of  Archbishop  Marechal 
seems  to  have  been  to  print  for  the  first  time  the  acts 
of  the  Synod  held  by  Archbishop  Carroll  in  1791,  the 
manuscript  copies  being  nearly  all  lost  at  this  time. 
To  these  he  appended  the  Regulations  adopted  by 
Archbishop  Carroll  and  his  suffragans  in  1810  and  also 
regulations  of  his  own  in  regard  to  the  conditional 
baptism  of  converts  in  all  cases  ;  directing  priests  to 
use  all  endeavors  to  induce  parties  intending  to  marry 
to  prepare  by  a  good  confession  ;  and  also  to  avoid 
marrying  persons  belonging  to  other  congregations. 
He  also  prescribed  rules  for  mixed  marriages  ;  censured 
severely  the  attendance  by  Catholics  at  Protestant  ser- 
vices ;  directed  that  absolution  should  not  be  given  too 
hastily  ;  he  forbade  the  erection  of  any  church  without 
the  consent  of  the  Archbishop.  He  w^arned  the  clergy 
and  people  against  receiving  strange  priests,  and  gave 
directions  in  regard  to  cemeteries  and  the  mode  of  dis- 
tributing the  Holy  Oils.  He  concludes  by  directing 
that  mass  should  be  offered  regularly  in  commemora- 


'  Tessier,  "  Epoques  du  Seminaire."  Sketch  in  "Ami  de  la  Religion." 
Bishop  Cheverus  in  a  letter  to  Rome  expressed  his  joy  that  Rev.  Mr. 
Marechal  was  to  preside  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  "where  he  and  his 
fellow  priests  of  Saint  Sulpice  had  been  the  models  and  preceptors  of  the 
clergy."  Hamon,  "  Vie  du  Cardinal  de  Cheverus,"  Paris,  1858,  p.  143. 
During  the  vacancy  of  the  see  Bishop  Du  Bourg  while  at  Baltimore 
ordained  and  performed  other  episcopal  acts. 


42        THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

tion  of  deceased  arclibisliops  of  Baltimore,  the  requiem 
for  Archbishop  Neale  to  be  offered  on  the  18th  of 
June  in  the  following  year/ 

In  the  summer  of  1817  the  novitiate  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus  at  Whitemarsh  received  eight  candidates 
brought  over  from  Belgium  by  the  holy  priest  Rev. 
Charles  Nerinckx.^  This  gave  the  Society  in  Mary- 
land great  hopes  of  reviving  and  extending  the  former 
work  of  the  Fathers  in  the  ancient  sphere  of  their 
labors,  but  they  were  destined  to  be  short-lived. 
Questions  had  already  arisen  between  the  Archbishop 
and  the  order. 

On  the  26th  of  July,  1817,  Archbishop  Marechal, 
who  had  come  from  Baltimore  for  the  purj^ose,  gave 
the  white  veil  of  the  Visitation  order  to  the  recent 
convert  Mrs.  Barber,  who  on  that  day  entered  the 
community  of  the  Visitation  Monastery  in  George- 
town. A  discourse  Avas  delivered  by  the  Jesuit  Father 
Baxter.^ 

The  difficulty  at  Charleston  begun  in  Archbishop 
Carroll's  time  had  not  yet  been  fully  settled,  and  the 
little  congregation  at  IS'orfolk  was  entering  a  similar 
trial.  Archbishop  Marechal  had  intimated  to  the 
Holy  See  his  desire  of  having  the  Carolinas  and  Geor- 
gia detached  from  his  diocese  and  erected  into  a  sep- 


'  This  seems  to  fix  the  date  of  the  pamphlet  in  1817.  It  has  no  title 
page,  but  begins  with  a  circular  of  the  Archbishop  (pp.  1-3),  Para- 
graphus  I.  the  Synod  of  1791  (pp.  4-21);  Paragraphus  II.  the  Tlegula- 
tions  of  1810  (pp  23-26).  Paragraphus  III.  liis  own  Regulations  (pp. 
27-34).  The  Archbishop  alludes  to  the  pamphlet  in  a  letter  to  Bishop 
England  in  1821. 

2  Bi-shop  Maes,  "  The  Life  of  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,"  Cincinnati,  1880, 
pp.  340-7.  De  Smet,  "Western  Missions  and  Missionaries,"  New  York, 
1859,  p.  499. 

^  Father  McElroy's  Diary. 


NORFOLK.  43 

arate  jurisdiction,  and  the  Propaganda,  pleased  with 
his  proposal,  prepared  to  act  upon  it. 

Hoping  by  personal  influence  to  quiet  the  trouble 
at  Norfolk,  and  encourage  religion  in  all  parts.  Arch- 
bishop Marechal  set  out  on  the  31st  of  March,  1818, 
accompanied  by  Rev.  James  Whitfield  to  make  a  visi- 
tation of  his  diocese.  He  proceeded  first  to  George- 
town, where  the  Visitation  Nuns  edified  him  by  the 
order  and  fervor  of  the  community.  After  giving  the 
habit  to  a  Sister,  he  visited  Georgetown  College,  St. 
Patrick's  cliurch,  and  the  Barry  (;hapel  in  Washing- 
ton and  Alexandria.  His  next  visit  was  to  the  Car- 
melite Convent,  where  he  presided  at  the  election  of 
Mother  Mary  Aloysia  of  the  Blessed  Trinity.  The 
convent,  then  situated  near  Port  Tobacco  in  Charles 
County,  consisted  of  seven  separate  small  frame 
houses  connected  by  wooden  enclosed  passages.  The 
chapel  was  small  and  poor,  but  the  Archbishop  found 
everything  neat  and  orderh^,  and  the  enclosure 
strictly  observed  by  the  community.^  Visiting  the 
church  at  St.  Tliomas'  Manor  erected  in  1798  by 
Father  Sewall,  Newport,  the  old  wooden  church  at 
Newtown  with  its  brick  sacristy  and  addition  in 
front ;  the  wooden  chapel  of  St.  Aloysius  ;  the  old 
brick  church  at  Medley's,  too  ruinous  for  use,  the 
chapels  of  St.  John  and  St.  Nicholas,  then  stopping 
at  Plowden's  chapel  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  he  crossed 
the  bay  to  Cob  Neck.  Thence  he  continued  by 
way  of  St.  Thomas',  Upper  and  Lower  Zachia  to 
Washington. 

Rev.  Mr.  Mathews  had  a  great  number  prepared  for 
confirmation  at  St.  Patrick's  church,  and  on  Whit- 


'  For  this  community  see  Father   Charles  W.  Currier,  "  Carmel  in 
America,"  Baltimore,  1890,  ch.  xiv. 


44        THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Sunday  the  Archbishop  administered  the  sacrament  to 
800.^ 

After  a  brief  stay  in  Washington  the  Archbishop 
returned  to  Baltimore,  having  confirmed  about  1600  in 
this  first  portion  of  his  visitation.  During  the  course 
of  the  year  an  impulse  was  given  to  the  piety  of  the 
Catholics  of  Baltimore  by  the  establishment  in  the 
Cathedral  of  the  Archconf  raternity  of  the  Sacred  Heart 
of  Jesus,  the  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  in  Maryland, 
Father  Grassi,  having  obtained  the  necessary 
diploma.^ 

On  the  11th  of  June  the  Archbishop  took  the  steam- 
boat for  Norfolk,  which  he  reached  next  day,  although 
the  malcontents  had  pretended  at  Rome  that  the  dis- 
tance was  so  great  that  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore 
could  not  well  superintend  the  Catholics  in  that  city. 
He  found  eighty  prepared  for  the  sacrament  of  con- 
firmation by  Rev.  Mr.  Lucas,  and  administered  it  to 
tliem.^ 

A  few  claiming  to  be  Trustees  of  the  Catholic  con- 
gregation had  refused  to  receive  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lucas, 
who  was  sent  to  Norfolk  by  Archbishop  Neale,  in 
December,  1815,  and  in  spite  of  a  letter  addressed  to 
them  by  that  successor  of  Dr.  Carroll,  they  persisted 
in  their  rebellion,  and  the  duly  appointed  pastor, 
unable  to  obtain  possession  of  the  Church,  had  opened 
a  temporary  chapel,  where  all  who  really  cared  for 
their  religion  heard  mass.  The  pretended  trustees 
then  issued  a  violent  pamphlet  to  defend  their  assumed 
rights,  claiming  a  jus  patronatus  and  denouncing  the 
ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  Roman  Curia,  and 

'  Draft  of  a  sermon  in  Archbishop  Marechal's  handwriting. 
"  From  Rev.  Aloysius  Felici,  S.J.  Eome,  7  Idus  Feb.  1818. 
^  Diary  of  Archbishop  Marechal. 


MOST  REV.    AMBROSE  MARECHAL,    THIRD  ARCHBISHOP 
OF    BALTIMORE. 


45 


NORFOLK  SCHISM.  47 

attacking  Catholic  doctrines,  especially  in  regard  to 
confession.^ 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Lucas  replied  showing  his  appoint- 
ment by  the  proper  authority,  and  his  recognition  by 
the  real  trustees  and  congregation  at  the  house  of 
E.  Higgins,  Esq.,  in  December,  1815,^  but  he  was  as- 
sailed in  a  pamphlet  by  Jasper  Moran,  and  in  placards 
of  which  the  tenor  may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that 
they  speak  of  ' '  the  criminal  obstinacy  of  the  late  Rev. 
Archbishop  L.  Neale,  as  well  as  the  stubbornness  or 
systematic  contumacy  of  his  Most  Rev.  Successor." 

Finding  that  they  could  not  overawe  the  Archbislioi> 
or  drive  out  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lucas  they  drew  up  a  grand- 
iloquent memorial  to  the  Pope,  which  was  taken  by 
one  of  the  malcontents  to  Rome.  In  this,  regardless 
of  the  truth,  they  represented  that  they  were  destitute 
of  a  priest,  and  relying  on  the  unacquaintance  of 
the  Roman  officials  with  American  geography  they 
represented  that  Virginia  was  at  such  an  immense 
distance  from  Maryland  that  the  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more could  not  take  care  of  the  Catholics  there,  and 
in  the  name  of  the  Norfolk  congregation  solicited  the 
erection  of  a  new  see  at  Norfolk,  the  people  "being 
ready  to  provide  with  munificence  all  that  is  necessary 
for  divine  worship,  the  maintenance  of  the  bishop  and 
other  ministers  of  the  Church,  the  erection  of  a  seminary 
and  schools."  They  also  asked  that  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Carbry,  O.S.D.,  of  New  York  should  be  appointed 
their  pastor. 

'  "  Letters  addressed  to  the  Most  Reverend  Leonard  Neale,  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore.  By  a  member  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Congregation  of 
Norfolk  in  Virginia.     Printed  by  O'Connor  Broughton,  Norfolk,  Va." 

'  "  An  Address  to  the  Members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Congregation 

of  Norfolk By  the  Rev.  J.  Lucas Printed  by  Shields, 

Charlton  &  Co.,  Norfolk." 


48         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Bishop  Connolly  deluded  by  the  representations 
supported  them/  and  Carbry  jDroceeded  to  Rome.  All 
this  was  communicated  to  Arclibishop  Marechal  by 
the  Propaganda.  When  Carbry  returned  bearing  a 
letter  from  Cardinal  Litta,  recommending  him  to  Dr. 
Marechal,  the  Archbishop  declined  to  receive  him  into 
his  diocese,  or  to  appoint  him  to  Norfolk  where  no 
vacancy  existed. 

Archbishop  Marechal' s  visit  to  Norfolk  was  under- 
taken in  the  hope  that  he  would  be  able  to  recall  the 
obstinate  to  a  sense  of  duty.  He  convened  a  meeting 
of  the  pewholders,  but  of  fifty-five,  nearly  one- fourth 
refused  to  attend,  while  others  protested  and  left  the 
xoom.  As  the  legality  of  the  last  election  of  trustees 
was  questioned,  he  urged  the  holding  of  a  new  har- 
monious election,  but  after  a  stay  of  ten  days,  finding 
all  his  efforts  useless,  he  left  Norfolk.^ 

The  misguided  men,  however,  led  by  Dr.  Fernandez 
and  others,  seem  to  have  placed  little  dependence  on 
their  intrigue  at  Rome,  for  without  awaiting  the 
result  of  their  scheme  they  applied  through  Father 
Carbry  to  the  Rev.  Richard  Hayes,  a  jiriest  who  as 

'  Bishop  Connolly  to  Arclibishop  Marechal,  April  9,  1818.  He  had 
already  in  February  urged  the  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda  to  establish  a 
see  at  Norfolk  and  proposed  Rev.  Mr.  Carbry  as  bishop,  recommending 
him  as  learned,  zealous,  exemplary  and  eloquent,  and  formerly  his 
pupil  at  the  Minerva.  By  tliis  time  Moran,  one  of  the  leading  malcon- 
tents, had  with  his  family  openly  gone  over  to  the  Protestants. — Bishop 
Connolly  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect,  Feb.  25,  1818. 

.  "^  Diary  of  Archbishop  Marechal.  In  a  letter  to  Rev.  Mr.  Lucas  he 
slates  that  he  would  be  justiiied  in  excommunicating  Fernandez,  Reilly, 
and  Donahy  for  the  impious  principles  they  held  and  disseminated, 
their  usurpation  of  the  church  and  their  outrages  against  himself,  but  he 
forbade  that  clergyman  to  admit  them  to  the  sacraments  in  life,  or  to 
perform  the  funeral  service  after  death  unless  they  repented  and  repaired 
the  enormous  scandals  tliey  had  given. — Letter  June  21,  1818. 


NORTH  CAROLINA.  49 

agent  of  the  Irish  clergy  had  given  offense  to  Papal 
authority,  and  urged  him  to  proceed  Jo  Utrecht  and 
induce  the  schismatical  Archbishop  of  that  city  to 
consecrate  him  Bishop  of  Norfolk.  Rev.  Mr.  Hayes 
was  a  faithful  Catholic  priest,  and  he  immediately 
exposed  the  whole  plot  to  the  Pope.^ 

Meanwhile  Archbishop  Marechal,  to  leave  the  per- 
turbators  no  pretext  for  opx^osing  a  priest  on  national 
grounds,  on  May,  1818,  appointed  Rev.  Nicholas 
Kerney,  pastor  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth.  The 
trustees  refused  to  acknowledge  him,  and  adhered  to 
Carbry,  who  soon  arrived  and  was  aided  by  a  roaming 
Portuguese  priest.  Rev.  Mr.  Kerney  found  Ports- 
mouth destitute  of  church,  vestments,  tabernacle,  and 
all  provision  for  mass.  The  Catholics  of  the  place, 
chiefly  men  employed  in  the  Navy  Yard,  could  easily 
attend  service  in  Norfolk,  as  more  than  one  hundred 
of  them  actually  did.  He,  however,  secured  a  school- 
room and  fitted  it  up  for  use  as  a  chapel,  but  the  mal- 
contents raised  such  a  disturbance  on  Christmas  day, 
that  for  peace  sake  he  abandoned  the  attempt  to  offici- 
ate there.  The  next  Sunday  he  had  three  hundred 
and  fifty  attending  mass  in  his  Norfolk  chapel,  many 
of  them  from  Portsmouth.  A  general  discharge  of 
men  at  the  Navy  Yard  soon  after  made  any  attempt 
to  open  or  maintain  a  chapel  there  useless.^ 

He  continued  to  labor  zealously  at  Norfolk,  though 
unable  to  enter  either  church  or  cemetery,  which  was 
held  by  Carbry,  who  paraded  Cardinal  Litta's  letter 
as  a  papal  act,  making  him  independent  of  the  Arch- 

'  Pastoral  Letter  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  etc.,  and  of  Archbishop  Mare- 
chal to  the  Congregation  of  Norfolk,  Va.,  1819.     Baltimore,  1820,  p.  67. 

^  Rev.  N".  Kerney  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  May  31,  June  38,  Aug.  9, 
Dec.  27,  1819.     Trustee  Notice,  Herald,  Sept.  27,  1819. 


50         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

bishop  of  Baltimore.  He  took  out  a  license  from  the 
court  as  CatlioJic  pastor  of  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth, 
and  officiated  for  the  jDretended  trustees  and  their  ad- 
herents. He  even  went  to  Richmond  and  said  mass 
there,  hoping  to  gain  i)ossession  of  some  property  be- 
longing to  the  Church.^ 

While  this  wretched  man  was  thus  endeavoring  to 
w^eaken  the  faith  of  Catholics,  the  zealous  Eev.  Mr. 
Kerney,  hearing  of  neglected  Catholics  in  North  Caro- 
lina, made  visits  in  1819  and  1820  to  Washington  and 
New  Berne  in  that  State,  officiating  in  both  places, 
offering  the  holy  sacrifice,  hearing  confessions,  and 
baptizing  children  and  adults.^ 

Events  show  that  Carbry  had  long  from  New 
York,  where  Bishop  Connolly  was  completely  deceived 
by  him,  fomented  the  disturbances  at  Norfolk  and 
Charleston.  In  the  latter  city,  the  vestrymen  refused 
to  recognize  the  Rev.  J.  P.  de  Cloriviere,  and  defied 
the  authority  of  the  Archbishop,  who  addressed  several 
letters  to  them.  They  also  applied  to  the  Holy  See, 
and  forwarded  a  petition  to  Pope  Pius  VII.,  in  which 
assuming  to  act  not  merely  for  the  petty  church  in 
Charleston,  but  for  the  Catholics  of  four  States  solic- 
ited from  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  the  erection  of  a  diocese 
embracing  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia,  and  even  requested  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
Thomas  Carbry,  as  Bishop.^ 

Even  after  they  were   notified   by  Rev.  Dr.  Mare- 

'  Eugene  Higgins  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Feb.  2,  4,  1818  ;  Rev.  N. 
Kerney  to  same,  May  31,  1819. 

2  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  ii.,  pp.  147,  163. 

^  Documents  relative  to  the  present  distressed  state  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  in  the  City  of  Charleston,  State  of  South  Carolina  (Text 
from  Protestant  Bible),  Charleston,  1818. 


VISITATIONS.  51 

chal  as  administrator,  of  the  Brief  of  Pius  VII.  reject- 
ing the  appeal  of  Gallagher  and  Browne,  and  subse- 
quently of  his  own  consecration  as  Archbishop  of  Bal- 
timore, they  refused  to  recognize  Rev.  Mr.  Cloriviere 
or  admit  him  to  the  church  on  Hazell  Street.  That 
priest  accordingly  continued  to  minister  to  the  real 
Catholics  in  the  hired  hall,  consoled  by  having  130 
make  their  Easter  Communion.^ 

The  i:)allium  granted  to  Archbishop  Marechal  in 
September,  1818,  was  forwarded  through  Bishop 
Poynter,  one  of  the  English  Vicars  Apostolic,  and 
was  conferred  upon  him  in  his  pro-cathedral,  Dec.  19, 
1819,  by  Father  Anthony  Kohlmann. 

After  the  summer  of  1818  Archbishop  Marechal 
resumed  his  visitation,  which  he  extended  to  Barnes- 
town,  Carrollton,  Frederick,  Hagarstown,  Emmetts- 
burg,  Taneytown  in  Maryland,  Martinsburg  and  Win- 
chester in  Virginia.  The  Sisterhood  at  Emmettsburg 
afforded  him  great  satisfaction.  He  found  the  vener- 
able Mother  Seton  bearing  the  inroads  of  consumption 
with  pious  cheerfulness.  He  gave  the  tonsure  to  live 
seminarians  at  Mount  St.  Mary's.  In  this  town  he 
confirmed  685,  making  the  total  number  for  the  year 
2506.  Many  of  these  were  converts,  esj^ecially  at 
Taneytown. 

These  visitations  which  his  two  predecessors  in  these 
later  years  had  been  unable  to  make,  brought  him 
into  personal  relations  with  his  clergy  and  congrega- 
tions in  Maryland  and  Virginia. 

After  thus  acquiring  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
condition  of  the  Church  in  his  diocese,  Archbishop 

'  Cloriviere,  "  Further  Documents  showing  tlie  causes  of  the  dis- 
tressed state  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Congregation  in  the  City  of  Charles- 
ton." Cliarleston,  1818.  Letter  to  Matthew  O'Driscoll,  Oct.  21,  1818. 
8vo,  4  pp. 


52         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Marechal  made  a  long  and  interesting  report  to  the 
Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda.  He  estimated 
that  his  diocese,  which  then  comprised  Maryland, 
Virginia,  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,  with  the  terri- 
tory west  of  the 
y»  .  A  I  '\  -h  ^^^^  named  State 
-f    c/'  i^u^-  -(/CiaA^  ^^^^S^     to  the  Mississippi, 

and  Avliich   before 
the  Revolution  did 

SIGNATURE   OF   ARCHBISHOP   MARECHAL.  j^q^     COntaln      mOrC 

than  10,000  Catho- 
lics, now  numbered  100,000,  chiefly  in  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  having  grown  by  natural  increase, 
conversions,  and  immigration.  For  the  service  of 
his  flock  he  had  52  priests, — 14  French,  12  Ameri- 
cans, 11  Irish,  7  Belgians,  4  English,  3  Germans, 
and  1  Italian.  There  were  more  churches  than 
priests,  a  clergyman  being  frequently  required 
to  attend  several  churches  in  succession  ;  and  no 
fewer  than  ten  new  churches  were  actually  in 
progress. 

In  Baltimore  St.  Peter's  could  no  longer  hold  a 
tenth  of  the  congregation,  and  a  series  of  masses  was 
celebrated  every  Sunday  to  enable  the  people  to  ful- 
fill their  duty.  The  seminary  chapel  had  a  large  con- 
gregation also,  the  annual  communions  reaching  ten 
thousand.  St.  Patrick's  and  St.  John's  were  also 
well  attended,  and  the  number  of  Catholics  in  Balti- 
more was  estimated  at  ten  thousand,  having  increased 
from  about  800  in  1792. 

To  keep  up  the  supi^ly  of  clergy  his  diocese  had  St. 
Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore,  admirably  conducted 
by  the  priests  of  St.  Sulpice,  who  also  had  charge  of 
St.  Mary's  College.  There  was  also  the  Petit  Semi- 
naire  at  Emmettsburg  with  eighty  pupils,  fifteen  of 


BALTIMORE  DIOCESE.  53 

them  tonsured.  On  these  mainly  depended  the  future 
of  the  diocese. 

Besides  this  hive  of  future  priests,  there  was  at 
Georgetown  the  College  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  one 
building  devoted  to  secular  pupils,  the  other  contain- 
ing thirty-three  scholastics  and  novices.  There  were 
thus  three  colleges  for  young  men.  For  the  educa- 
tion of  young  ladies  there  was  a  flourishing  academy 
at  Georgetown  conducted  by  Visitation  Nuns,  the  com- 
munity numbering  nearly  fifty,  rej)roducing  in  their 
lives  the  spirit  and  virtues  of  Saint  Francis  de  Sales. 
Their  academy  sent  out  pupils  trained  to  become  in 
life  pious,  well  instructed,  and  accomplished  women. 
They  were  anxious  to  extend  their  usefulness,  and 
Archbishop  Marechal  petitioned  the  Holy  See  to  per- 
mit the  Nuns  to  have  ten  or  twelve  lay  or  out-sisters, 
who  might  under  their  direction  conduct  free  schools 
for  girls  in  Georgetown  and  Washington.^ 

St.  Joseph's  Academy,  at  Emmettsburg,  under 
Mother  Seton,  her  Sisters  of  Charity  numbering  thirty- 
two,  was  admirably  conducted.  It  had  80  pupils, 
and  also  a  number  of  orphan  girls.  The  Archbishop 
hoped  soon  toestablish  a  house  of  the  Sisters  in  Bal- 
timore. 

In  addition  to  these  two  communities  devoted  to 
education  and  good  works,  the  diocese  contained  the 
Carmelite  Convent  at  Port  Tobacco  with  twenty-three 
nuns,  living  mainly  from  the  produce  of  their  estate. 
He  spoke  in  the  highest  terras  of  their  fervor  and  dis- 
cipline. 

Piety  among  the  faithful  was  kept  alive  by  Confra- 
ternities of  the  Scapular,  Rosary,  Blessed  Sacrament, 
Sacred  Heart,  and  the  Sodality  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 

'  Application  of  Archbishop  Marechal  to  the  Pope. 


54         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  last  established  in  Georgetown  College  in  1810, 
and  in  Baltimore  in  1812.^ 

In  1819  the  Rev,  John  Brady,  Episcopal  minister  in 
St.  Mary's  County,  Maryland,  hearing  a  report  that 
Rev.  Leonard  Edelen,  of  Newtown,  had  burned  some 
Protestant  Bibles,  addressed  a  very  dictatorial  note  to 
him.  It  was  the  first  of  a  series  of  similar  charges 
against  Catholic  priests,  all  the  more  extraordinary 
as  Protestants  themselves  are  conspicuously  the  great 
Bible-burners  in  this  country.  Mr.  Brady's  ground 
for  the  charge  was  that  Jonathan  B.  Benson  declared 
"that  Mr.  Benjamin  Edwards  told  me,  that  he  heard 
Mr.  Thomas  Tucker  say  (in  a  conversation  concerning 
the  burning  of  the  Bible),  that  Father  Edelen  would 
have  a  roasting  hot  fire  of  them."  The  whole  story 
was  false,  but  the  Jesuit  Father's  re];)ly  led  to  a  con- 
troversy of  some  length,  which  Avas  subsequently 
l^rinted  in  pamphlet  form.^ 

The  little  skirmish  seems  to  have  quickened  the 
zeal  of  Catholics,  as  we  find  that  new  churches  were 
erected  at  Medley's  Neck  and  St.  John's,  and  liberal 

'  The  diploma  establishing  the  Confraternity  of  ^he  Sacred  Heart  at 
the  Visitation  Convent  was  dated  April  30,  1818.  "  Rules  of  the  Male 
Confraternity  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  established  in  Baltimore, 
April,  1812,  with  the  approbation  of  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Carroll." 
Second  Ed.  Baltimore,  1823.  Archbishop  Marechal  also  encouraged  the 
formation  of  Catholic  Beneficial  Societies.  The  Charitable  Relief  Society 
was  established  by  Rev.  R.  Smith,  Oct.  1,  1827,  and  the  Tobias  Society, 
for  colored  people,  Jan.  1,  1828,  with  his  approval.  See  Constitutions. 
Baltimore,  1828,  1836. 

'  "  A  correspondence  between  Rev.  Mr.  Brady  and  Rev.  Mr.  Edelen 
of  St.  Mary's  County,  Maryland,  which  was  commenced,  in  consequence 
<)f  a  report  in  circulation  that  the  latter  had  burned  several  Protestant 
Piibles,"  etc.  Washington  ;  Davis  &  Force,  1819,  pp.  76.  When  the 
Bible  Society  of  New  York  stopped  printing  Catholic  Bibles  and  Testa- 
ments in  French,  Spanish,  Italian  and  Portuguese,  the  unsold  stock  was 
burned,  the  fires  being  kept  going  for  weeks. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA.  55 

subscriptions  made  for  the  Church  of  the  Sacred 
Heart.  ^ 

In  Charleston,  Gallagher  by  insidious  and  open 
means  still  hampered  the  labors  of  Rev.  Mr.  Clori- 
viere  to  such  a  degree  that  Dr.  Marechal,  finding  that 
the  malcontents  were  asking  for  a  bishop,  and  desired 
Father  Carbry,^  sent  to  that  city  two  Jesuit  Fathers, 
whom  the  Superior  of  the  Society  in  this  country 
reluctantly  drew  from  Georgetown  College  to  proceed 
on  the  difficult  errand  of  restoring  discipline.  These 
were  Father  Benedict  J.  Fenwick,  an  American,  and 
Father  James  Wallace,  a  native  of  Ireland.  Gallagher 
meanwhile,  by  a  pamphlet,  exerted  himself  to  maintain 
discord,  and  yet  he  won  such  support  in  Europe,  that 
his  word  weighed  more  at  Rome  than  that  of  Arch- 
bishop Marechal.^  Dr.  O'  Driscoll  was  next  to  Rev.  Mr. 
Gallagher  the  great  fomenter  of  trouble  at  Charleston. 

When  Father  Fenwick  arrived,  November  10,  1818, 
he  put  up  at  a  Protestant  house  till  he  could  obtain 
possession  of  the  presbytery,  and  he  at  once  convened 
the  Yestry.  O' Driscoll  began  to  insist  on  the  right  of 
13resentation,  which  he  claimed  for  the  Yestry ;  but 
Father  Fenwick  declared  the  claim  utterly  absurd  and 
unfounded.  He  insisted  that  the  Yestry  should 
acknowledge  certain  principles  as  the  only  terms  on 
which  he  could  continue  to  regard  them  as  Catholics. 
The  pastor  of  the  church  was  to  be  recognized  as  a 
member  of  the  Yestry ;  he  was  to  have  exclusive 
authority  in  regulating  the  interior  of  the  church  and 


'  Rev.  F.  Edelen  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Nov.  13,  1820. 

^  Bishop  Connolly  of  New  York  had  urged  Archbishop  Marechal  in 
his  letter  of  April  9,  1818,  to  appoint  Carbry  to  Norfolii.  On  the  30th 
of  October  he  wrote,  urging  the  Archbishop  to  recommend  Carbry  for  a 
see  to  be  erected  at  Charleston,  recommending  him  in  the  highest  terms. 

3  Rev.  B.  J.  Fenwick  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Nov.  10,  16,  1818. 


56         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

everything  appertaining  to  divine  worship,  and  finally 
that  he  was  to  receive  his  salary  as  long  as  he  was 
authorized  by  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  to  fill  the 
position.  When  Rev.  Mr.  Gallagher  addressed  Father 
Fenwick  to  learn  what  powers  he  had,  the  firm  envoy 
replied  in  substance  that  he  had  none.  The  malcon- 
tents learned,  at  once,  that  affairs  had  been  committed 
to  a  firm  hand. 

Gallagher  submitted,  at  least  openly,  and  the  Vestry 
yielded.  Then  the  two  Jesuits  went  to  work  to  revive 
religion.  Sermons  and  instructions  were  given  ;  the 
young  were  prepared  to  receive  the  sacraments. 
Father  Fenwick  could  at  Easter  count  two  hundred 
communicants,  twenty-three  making  their  first  com- 
munion.^ 

Under  this  impulse  religion  advanced  till  in  the 
course  of  the  following  year  letters  came  from  Rome 
in  which  Rev.  Robert  Browne,  who  had  gone  there,  and 
by  a  feigned  submission  obtained  credence,^  boasted 
that  he  had  triumphed  over  the  ecclesiastical  authority 
in  America  and  asserted  that  he  had  been  completely 
restored.  Tidings  soon  came  of  the  erection  of  the 
see  of  Charleston  and  of  the  appointment  of  Bishop 
England.  Browne  arrived  before  the  newly  appointed 
bishojD,  and  claimed  full  right  to  exercise  the  minis- 
try, by  virtue  of  Dr.  England's  grant,  but  as  Father 
Fenwick  had  no  official  notice  of  the  erection  of  the 
see  or  consecration  of  the  bishop  he  declined  to,  recog- 
nize him. 

Father  Fenwick  continued  to  labor  earnestly  till 
Bishop  England  arrived  and  was  installed.  The  next 
day  he  tendered  his  papers  and  asked  permission  to 

^  Rev.  B.  J.  Fenwick  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  June  9,  Sept.  1,  1819. 
*  Cardinal  Fontana  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  April  15,  1820. 


DIOCESE  OF  CHARLESTON.  '  57 

return  immediately  to  the  North.  Bishop  England 
had,  almost  at  a  glance,  recognized  the  true  priest  and 
the  false.  He  would  not  receive  Father  Fen  wick's 
papers  and  complained  of  his  wishing  so  abruptly  to 
leave  him,  a  perfect  stranger  in  the  country.  Father 
Fenwick  yielded  in  order  to  give  him  the  aid  of  his 
experience.^ 

The  Metropolitan  of  the  United  States  had  solicited 
that  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia  should  be  erected  into 
a  Vicariate  Apostolic,  but  this  was  rejected  by  the 
Propaganda,  which  regarded  the  plan  as  unprece- 
dented ;  Archbishop  Marechal  then  joroposed  that 
these  States  should  be  erected  into  a  diocese  with  a 
bishop's  see  at  Charleston.  Conscious  of  the  prejudice 
which  had  been  created  in  Rome  against  the  Bishops 
and  clergy  in  this  country,  and  having  no  right  in  the 
matter,  he  did  not  propose  any  clergyman  for  the  new 
see,  but  advised  the  appointment  of  some  English 
priest.^ 

It  was  a  strange  position  of  affairs,  but  the  little 
knots  of  malcontents  in  Norfolk  and  Charleston,  men 
destitute  of  religion,  who  seldom  or  never  approached 
the  sacraments,  actually  through  the  Irish  hierarchy, 
whose  good  faith  they  abused,  and  through  Browne 
and  his  confederates  at  Rome,  influenced  the  action  of 
the  Propaganda,  and,  of  course,  not  in  the  best  inter- 
ests of  the  Church  in  the  United  States.  The  V.  Rev. 
John  Rice,  O.  S.A.,  who  possessed  great  influence  in 
Rome,  is  said  to  have  been  the  most  active  in  this  un- 
justiflable  interference  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church  in 
America.  To  gratify  the  men  at  Norfolk  who  had 
been    ready  to   establish   the   Jansenist   schism,   the 

'  Rev.  J.  Fenwick  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Sept.  17,  Oct.  19,  Dec.  19, 
1820;  Feb.  19,  1821. 
*  Archbishop  Marechal  to  the  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  1818. 


58         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

plot  was  formed  and  actively  pushed  to  create  Vir- 
ginia into  a  diocese  with  the  see  at  Richmond,  but 
authorizing  the  new  Bishop  to  reside  at  Norfolk.  This 
scheme,  in  which  Browne  was  the  prime  mover,  was 
carried  out  by  those- whom  he  succeeded  in  influencing 
with  all  the  secrecy  and  celerity  of  a  conspiracy,  every 
precaution  being  taken  to  prevent  the  action  from 
becoming  known  ;  the  bulls  were  apparently  prepared 
out  of  the  usual  channel,  and  were  sent  to  Ireland,  to 
the  priests  appointed  with  injunctions  to  obtain  conse- 
cration and  proceed  at  once  to  America.^ 

The  Sovereign  Pontiff  accordingly  on  the  11th  of 
July,  1820,  signed  the  bulls  dismembering  the  diocese 
of  Baltimore,  erecting  Virginia  into  a  diocese  with  a 
see  at  Richmond,  and  North  and  South  Carolina  with 
Georgia  into  a  diocese  with  a  see  at  Charleston,  ap- 
pointing Rev.  Patrick  Kelly  to  the  former  and  Rev. 
John  England  to  the  latter  see. 

By  this  hasty  and  inconsiderate  action  the  diocese 
of  Baltimore  constituted  two  portions,  a  thousand 
miles  apart,  Maryland  and  the  District  of  Columbia  on 
the  Atlantic,  and  Alabama  and  Mississippi  in  the 
southwest. 

'  England,  "  A  Brief  Account  of  the  Introduction  of  the  Catholic 
Religion  into  the  State  of  North  Carolina,"  etc.,  Dublin, 1832.  Fitzpat- 
rick.  "  Life,  etc.,  of  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Doyle,"  Dublin,  1861,  i.,p.  88.  Let- 
ters from  V.  Rev.  J.  Rice  to  Rev.  P.  Kelly. 

'^  The  bulls  erecting  these  two  sees  are  not  in  the  Bullarium  Magnum, 
nor  in  the  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  but  have  been  found  in 
the  archives  of  the  Propaganda.  The  Bishops  of  Cork  and  Ossory  seem 
to  have  been  most  active.  They  recommended  for  American  sees.  Revs. 
John  England,  Patrick  Kelly,  Edward  Nolan,  parish  priest  of  Gowran, 
in  the  diocese  of  Ossory,  Nicholas  Carroll,  parish  priest  of  Rathdowney 
in  the  same  diocese,  Father  Charles  B.  Maguire,  O.S.F.,  of  Pittsburgh, 
Pa. ,  the  provincial  of  the  Irish  Franciscans,  declining.  List  submitted 
at  Rome,  June  5,  1820. 


NEW  SEES.  59 

Unconscious  of  all  these  schemes  and  plots,  Arch- 
bishop Marechal  had  been  exerting  himself  for  the 
good  of  religion.  In  1819  he  visited  St.  Ignatius 
Church  in  Harford  County,  encouraged  the  erection 
of  St.  Patrick's  Church  on  the  Susquehanna  in  Cecil 
County,  then  visited  Whitemarsh  and  proceeded  to 
Queenstown,  St.  Joseph's,  and  other  places  on  the 
Eastern  shore,  confirming  in  all  about  473. 

In  July  of  the  following  year  we  find  him  at  George- 
town ordaining  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  Henry  Verheyen, 
Peter  Joseph  Timmerman,  and  John  Murphy  ;  laying 
the  corner-stone  of  the  Visitation  chapel,  and  confirm- 
ing 213  in  Trinity  Church. 

Against  the  detachment  of  Virginia  Archbishop 
Marechal  protested  warmly,  as  a  division  of  his  dio- 
cese without  his  knowledge  or  consent,  and  as  creating 
a  new  bishopric  where  it  would  be  impossible  to  main- 
tain the  prelate  appointed. 

The  step,  however,  was  taken,  and  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Richmond,  and  Charleston  were  thus 
assigned  to  Bishops  sent,  utter  strangers,  to  this  coun- 
try, nominated  by  the  influence  of  a  foreign  hierarchy, 
and  in  some  cases  bound  in  the  very  act  of  their 
consecration  by  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  British 
government,  the  great  enemy  of  the  United  States. 

It  was  not  till  December  19,  1819,  two  years  after 
his  succession  to  the  see,  that  Archbishop-elect  Mare- 
chal received  the  pallium,  which  had  been  granted  in 
1818.  It  was  forwarded  through  Bishop  Poynter, 
Vicar  Aj^ostolic  of  London,  and  was  conferred  upon 
him  by  the  Rev.  Father  Anthony  Kohlmann,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Kenny  preaching  on  the  occasion. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year.  Catholicity  and  Mary- 
land lost  a  noble  representative  in  the  person  of  the 
Hon.  Thomas  Sim  Lee,  the  war  governor  of  Maryland. 


60         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

This  noble  patriot,  born  in  1744,  was  elected  governor 
November  8,  1779,  and  served  till  1783,  when  he  was 
sent  to  represent  the  State  in  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, where  he  sat  two  years.  After  being  an  active 
member  of  the  State  Convention  which  ratified  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  he  was  again  elected 
governor,  and  served  from  1792  to  1794.  He  had  been 
a  personal  friend  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  and  enjoyed 
the  esteem  of  his  successors,  having  been  visited  from 
time  to  time  by  Archbishop  Marechal.  He  died  on 
the  9th  of  November,  and  was  buried  near  Marlbor- 
ough. Georgetown  College  honored  his  memory  by  a 
solemn  mass  of  requiem,  at  which  Father  Baxter  pro- 
nounced a  funeral  discourse.^ 

Soon  after  his  appointment  Archbishop  Marechal 
took  up  earnestly  the  project  of  completing  the  Cathe- 
dral, on  which  work  had  been  suspended  for  several 
years.  To  obtain  the  necessary  funds  with  the  diocese 
already  greatly  reduced,  and  likely  to  be  still  further 
restricted  in  extent,  was  not  easy;  but  the  old  ceme- 
tery and  even  part  of  the  cathedral  ground  was  sold, 
and  the  work  of  construction  was  resumed  in  1817. 
Individual  subscriptions  aided  the  fund,  but  resort 
-was  had  to  another  lottery,  in  1819,  from  which  $75,- 
000  was  to  be  applied  to  the  Cathedral.  The  sale  of 
pews  as  the  church  approached  completion  aided  con- 
siderably, producing  $40,000.^  The  citizens  of  Balti- 
more without  distinction  of  creed  felt  a  pride  in  the 
completion  of  the  edifice,  which  in  grandeur  exceeded 

'  Georgetown  Records. 

«  Scharf,  "  The  Chronicles  of  Baltimore,"  Baltimore,  1874,  pp.  397-9. 
There  were  12,500  tickets  at  |40.  The  managers  were  David  William- 
son, L.  Tiernan,  W.  Jenkins,  Basil  S.  Elder,  John  Carrere,  P.  Laurens, 
John  Walsh,  A.  White,  Jr.,  Dr.  Chatard,  M.  Ridlemoser,  John  Hunter, 
and  Charles  Carroll,  Jr. 


BALTIMORE  CATHEDRAL.  61 

any  church  then  existing  in  the  country.  He  ex- 
pressed a  wish  in  a  communication  to  Rome  that  some 
statues  and  jDaintings,  wliich  superabounded  there, 
could  be  contributed  to  decorate  it. 

Archbishop  Marechal  resigned  himself  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  completing  the  edifice  with  less  grandeur 
than  had  been  originally  proposed,  and  was  often 
penetrated  with  fear  that  he  would  never  live  to  be- 
hold it  so  far  completed  as  to  serve  for  the  celebration 
of  divine  worship.  He  persevered,  however,  encour- 
aged even  by  old  friends  in  Europe,  and  on  the  10th 
of  May,  1821,  was  able  to  announce  in  a  pastoral  letter 
that  the  Baltimore  Cathedral  would  be  dedicated  on 
the  31st  of  the  same  month,  the  eve  being  made  a  fast 
day  for  the  diocese.^ 

The  rich  marble  altar  for  the  new  edifice  was  the 
gift  of  priests  at  Marseilles,  France,  who  had  been  his 
pupils  while  he  taught  theology  in  the  seminaries  in 
that  country.  An  inscription  records  this  tribute.^ 
This  altar,  with  fine  candelabra  to  go  on  either  side  of 
the  tabernacle,  reached  Marblehead,  Massachusetts,  in 
the  Cadmus,  Capt.  Williamson,  March,  1821,  and 
were  shipped  thence  to  Baltimore.^ 

A  number  of  fine  large  paintings  were  also  received 
as  a  gift  of  his  Eminence  Cardinal  Fesch,  uncle  of  the 
great  Napoleon.* 

'  "  Pastoral  Letter  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  to  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  his  Diocese  ou  the  Consecration  of  the  Cathedral,"  Balti- 
more, 1821. 

*  Hoc  Altare  |  a  Massiliensibus  Sacerdotibus  |  Amb.  Archiep.  Bait.  | 
Eorum  in  Sacra  Theologia  olim  |  Professori  |  grate  oblatum  |  Ipse  Deo 
Salvatori  in  honorem  ejus  |  Sanctissimae  Matris  |  consecravit  die  31  Maii, 
1821.     Catholic  Almanac,  1836,  pp.  50-8. 

» Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  March  26,  30,  31,  1821. 

■*  Cardinal  Fesch  to  Archbishop  Marechal. 


62         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  altar  as  set  up  was  a  beautiful  and  artistic 
work  of  polished  marbles,  the  tabernacle  crowned 
by  a  marble  globe  surmounted  by  cherubim  and  a 
crucifix.  The  candelabra  on  either  side  harmonized 
beautifully  with  the  whole  altar,  which  bore  on  its 
front  the  monogram  of  Our  Lady  to  whom  the  Cathe- 
dral is  dedicated. 

Between  the  columns  hung  oil  paintings  of  the  Bap- 
tism of  Our  Lord,  and  the  Assumption  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin.  On  the  walls  between  the  windows  hung 
other  oil  paintings.  The  Vision  of  St.  Nicholas,  The 
Vision  of  St.  Augustine,  The  Agony  in  the  Garden, 
St.  Simeon  holding  Our  Lord,  The  Last  Supper,  The 
Transfiguration,  Our  Lord  Feeding  the  Multitude, 
Our  Lord  apiDearing  to  St.  Mary  Magdalene,  Our 
Lord  and  the  Samaritan  Woman,  Our  Lord  bearing 
the  Cross,  St.  Veronica, — the  gifts  of  Cardinal  Fesch. 

The  Cathedral  is  cruciform,  190  feet  in  length,  and 
at  its  greatest  width  119  feet,  the  exterior  walls  of 
dark  granite,  which,  though  sombre,  have  stood  the 
test  of  time  and  the  elements  better  than  the  Ionic 
portico.  At  the  intersection  of  the  cross  rises  the 
noble  dome,  207  feet  in  circumference  within,  and 
lighted  by  an  exterior  dome  that  is  not  seen  from  the 
interior  of  the  edifice. 

At  the  entrance  of  the  Cathedral,  on  either  side, 
are  paintings,  one  The  Descent  from  the  Cross,  by 
Paulin  Guerin,  a  gift  to  Archbishop  Marechal  from 
Louis  XVIII.,  King  of  France;  the  other,  St.  Louis 
burying  the  dead  before  Tunis,  painted  by  Steuben, 
the  gift  of  Charles  X.,  King  of  France. 

The  Cathedral  was  solemnly  dedicated  on  the  31st 
of  May  by  Archbishop  Marechal,  assisted  by  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Conwell,  Bishop  of  Philadelphia, 
and  Rt.  Rev.  John  Cheverus,  Bishop  of  Boston.    The 


DEATH  OF  MRS.  SETON.  63 

sanctuary  was  filled  with  the  priests  of  the  diocese 
and  of  the  seminary  to  the  number  of  thirty-five,  and 
fifteen  ecclesiastical  students. 

The  pews  had  been  sold  some  months  before  and 
had  been  at  once  taken  by  the  most  prominent  Cath- 
olics of  Baltimore.  The  occasion  drew  them  all  to 
the  sacred  edifice,  with  a  large  gathering  of  the  faith- 
ful from  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  numbers  of  distin- 
guished Protestants,  interested  to  see  a  Cathedral,  in 
which  they  had  taken  a  local  pride,  devoted  at  last  to 
the  worship  of  Almighty  God. 

The  sermon  of  the  day  was  delivered  by  Rev.  Roger 
Baxter,  S.  J.,  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  Georgetown 
College,  who  took  his  text  from  2  Paralip,  vii.,  16.^ 

The  first  ordination  in  the  Cathedral  was  that  of  the 
Jesuit  Father,  Stephen  L.  Dubuisson,  who  was  raised 
to  the  priesthood  by  Archbishop  Marechal  on  the  7tli 
of  August. 

The  Church  sustained  a  great  loss  early  in  1821  by 
the  death  of  Mrs.  Seton,  foundress  and  first  Superior 
of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  at  Emmitsburg.  After  the 
approval  of  the  rule  by  Archbishop  Carroll,  eighteen 
made  the  simple  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obe- 
dience on  the  19tli  of  July,  1813,  and  a  regular  novi- 
tiate was  opened.  The  community  was  then  duly 
organized,  Mrs.  Seton  being  elected  Superior.  Herself 
a  model  of  exactness  in  observing  the  rule,  her  instruc- 
tions formed  the  Sisters  in  the  way  of  Christian  per- 
fection. The  little  community  increased  and  continued 
the  work  of  education  at  the  Mountain.     In  1814  an 

'  A  sermon  preached  at  the  Opening  and  Consecration  of  the  Cathe- 
dral, in  Baltimore,  on  the  thirty-first  day  of  May,  1821.  By  the  Eev.  R. 
Baxter,  S.J.,  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  the  College  of  Georgetown,  D. 
C.  Baltimore:  Published  by  J.  W.  1821.  Scharf,  " Chronicles  of 
Baltimore,"  p.  399. 


64         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

application  came  from  Philadelphia  for  Sisters  to  take 
charge  of  the  Ori)han  Asylum  near  Trinity  Church, 
and  Mother  Seton  sent  three  Sisters  to  found  her  first 
mission  abroad.  The  Sisters  began  in  poverty  and 
difficulty,  but  their  piety  and  devotedness  soon  made 
their  house  the  jiride  of  the  Catholics  of  Philadelphia. 
The  next  mission  was  of  Sisters  to  manage  the  domes- 
tic concerns  at  Mount  St.  Mary's  College,  and  in  1817 
three  Sisters  took  charge  of  the  OrxDhan  Asylum  in 
New  York.  The  Academy  at  St.  Joseph's  increased 
under  the  personal  care  of  Mother  Seton,  and  the 
school  for  the  poor  children  soon  required  a  separate 
building,  and  a  brick  one,  two  stories  high,  was  erected 
in  1820.  The  second  free  school  of  the  Sisters  was  that 
at  Trinity  Church,  Philadelphia.  Mother  Seton  thus 
beheld  her  work  extending,  and  avenues  open  to  em- 
ploy the  zeal  of  her  spiritual  children  ;  an  act  of 
incorporation  by  the  State  of  Maryland  in  January, 
1817,  secured  a  legal  existence.  Mrs.  Seton' s  health, 
never  rugged,  had  begun  to  decline,  and  she  calmly 
prepared  for  her  departure  from  the  world.  When 
asked  what  she  considered  the  greatest  blessing  ever 
bestowed  upon  her  by  the  Almighty,  she  answered  : 
"'That  of  being  brought  into  the  Catholic  Church." 
Sustained  by  Rev.  John  Du  Bois  and  Eev.  S.  Brute, 
she  received  all  the  sacraments  with  the  deepest  faith 
and  piety,  and  repeating  the  prayer  of  St.  Ignatius : 
"'  Soul  of  Christ,  sanctify  me,"  and  the  sacred  names 
of  Jesus,  Mary,  Joseph,  she  exj)ired  on  the  4th  of 
January,  1821,  in  the  47th  year  of  her  age.  An  in- 
scription in  the  room  marks  the  spot.  "Here,  near 
this  door,  by  this  fireplace,  on  a  poor  lowly  couch, 
died  our  cherished  and  saintly  Mother  Seton,  on  the 
4th  of  January,  1821.  She  died  in  poverty,  but  rich 
in  faith  and  good  works.     May  we,  her  children,  walk 


JESUIT  ESTATES.  65 

in  her  footsteps,  and  share  one  day  in  her  happiness. 
Amen."' 

Sister  Rose  White,  who  had  founded  the  houses  in 
Philadelphia  and  New  York,  was  elected  to  continue 
the  work  of  the  holy  foundress  as  Superior  of  the 
community,  numbering  at  this  time  nearly  fifty 
members. 

The  Sisters  of  Charity  soon  assumed  the  direction 
of  the  free  school  in  Baltimore,  which  by  this  impulse 
soon  numbered  170  children,  established  an  Orphan 
Asylum  with  fourteen  orphans,  and  opened  the  Bal- 
timore infirmary."^ 

In  that  city  confraternities  and  pious  associations 
continued  their  good  work,  leading  the  members  to 
approach  the  sacraments  regularly,  and  to  be  earnest 
in  relieving  the  wants  of  the  afflicted. 

When  Pope  Clement  XIV.  suppressed  the  Society  of 
Jesus  by  his  Brief  "  Dominus  ac  Redemptor  "  on  the 
21st  day  of  July,  1773,  the  members  who  were  in  holy 
orders  were  declared  to  be  secular  clergy,  the  rest 
became  simply  laymen.  No  disposition  was  made  of 
the  property  of  the  various  provinces,  colleges,  and 
missions  of  the  order,  though  professed  Fathers  were 
forbidden  to  purchase  or  sell  any  house,  goods,  or 
places.  The  property  of  the  order  had  already  been 
confiscated  by  the  crown  in  France,  Spain,  Portugal, 
Naples,  and  the  French,  Spanish,  and  Portuguese  colo- 
nies in  America  and  Asia.^ 

'  SetOD,  "Memoirs,  Letter  and  Journal  of  Elizabeth  Seton,"  New 
York,  1869,  ii.,  pp.  291-2.  White,  "  Life  of  Mrs.  Eliza  A.  Seton,"  New 
York,  1853,  pp.  437-442,  465  ;  Barbery,  "  Elizabeth  Seton,"  Paris,  1868, 
pp.  690-1. 

'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  vii.,  p.  110  ;  viii.,  p.  205. 

^Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  iv.,  p.  394.  Cretineau  Joly,  "  His- 
toire  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jesus,"  Paris,  1845,  v.,  p.  369. 


66  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

After  the  suppression,  the  property  of  the  order 
was  similarly  confiscated  by  the  State  in  Austria, 
the  Netherlands,  the  smaller  Italian  states,  includ- 
ing the  Territories  of  the  Pope.  The  Encyclical 
issued  August  18,  1773,  by  the  special  Congrega- 
tion "  de  Abolenda  Societate  Jesu,"  and  addressed 
to  all  Bishops,  required  each  bishop  in  his  diocese 
to  publish  the  brief  to  the  members  of  the  Society, 
and  then  "in  the  name  of  the  Holy  See  to  take 
and  retain  possession  of  the  houses,  colleges,  and 
their  goods,  rights,  and  appurtenances  of  what  kind 
soever." 

Bishop  Challoner  notified  the  missioners  in  Mary- 
land and  Pennsylvania  of  the  suppression,  and  obtained 
the  written  adhesion  of  each  one  to  the  Brief  of 
Clement  XIV.;  but  neither  in  England  nor  America 
did  he  proceed  further.  The  Jesuits  as  a  body  could 
not  possess  property  in  the  English  dominions,  and 
had  Bishop  Challoner  attempted  to  take  possession  of 
property  held  in  the  names  of  Jesuits  individually, 
it  would  have  led  to  its  confiscation  by  government, 
and  imperiled  all  Catholic  jDroperty  in  the  kingdom. 
There  is  no  trace  of  the  slightest  endeavor  on  his  part 
to  secure  a  conveyance  of  such  property  to  him.  The 
war,  which  soon  prevented  intercourse  between  Eng- 
land and  the  United  States,  made  any  attempt  at  a 
later  date  impossible.  The  property  in  Maryland  and 
Pennsylvania  remained  in  the  hands  of  individual 
priests  till  December  23,  1792,  when  the  surviving 
members  of  the  Society  in  Maryland,  who  held  prop- 
erty in  their  individual  names  under  secret  trusts,  and 
a  few  whom  they  had  aggregated  to  themselves,  were 
incorporated  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
of  Maryland,  and  the  corporation  empowered  to  hold 
and  apply  the  property  in  conformity  with  the  original 


JESUIT  ESTATES.  67 

several  trusts.^  The  corporation  was  authorized  to 
adopt  a  name,  and  selected  that  of  "  The  Corporation 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Clergymen."  ^  To  this  body- 
each  holder  of  land  conveyed  the  property,  represent- 
ing it  as  trust  j)roperty. 

An  informal  organization  had  already  existed  among 
them,  and  this  Rev.  John  Carroll  after  his  return  to 
America  joined,  receiving  an  annual  allowance,  as  did 
Rev.  Leonard  Neale.  When  Doctor  Carroll  was  made 
Prefect  Apostolic  his  allowance  was  increased,  and 
after  he  was  made  Bishop  of  Baltimore,  the  revenues 
of  the  plantation  of  Bohemia  were  assigned  to  him  and 
were  subsequently  received  by  his  successor  Arch- 
bishop ]N"eale,  both  having  been  members  of  the  infor- 
mal organization  and  of  the  Corporation.  When  Dr. 
Marechal  became  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  in  1817, 
the  Corporation  declined  to  continue  the  payment,  as 
he  was  not  a  member  of  their  body  like  his  predeces- 
sors ;  but  they  offered  to  pay  |500  a  year  for  four 
years,  till  his  Cathedral  was  dedicated  and  opened,  and 
able  to  give  him  a  maintenance.  Some  payments  were 
made  to  him  on  this  basis,  but  no  formal  agreement 
was  reached. 

Although  the  see  of  Baltimore  had  been  erected  for 
more  than  thirty  years,  no  one  of  those  who  had  oc- 
cupied it  had  visited  Rome.  Many  reasons  impelled 
the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Marechal  to  fulfill  at  this  time  the 
obligation  of  visiting  the  threshold  of  the  Apostles. 

He  set  out  on  October,  1821,  and  laid  before  the 
Holy  See  a  statement  of  the  condition  of  religion  in 
his  diocese  and  province.    He  obtained  a  promise  that 

'  An  Act  for  securing  certain  estates  and  property  for  the  support  and 
uses  of  the  Ministers  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion. 

'  Declaration  of  "Walton,  Ashton,  Leonard  Neale.  Molyneux,  Sewall, 
Oct.  15,  1793.     Recorded  Laws  I.  G.,  No.  1,  folio  701. 


68         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Virginia  should  be  placed  under  his  care  as  adminis- 
trator as  soon  as  Dr.  Kelly  could  be  transferred  to 
another  diocese.  In  regard  to  the  question  between 
himself  and  the  Society  of  Jesus,  Archbishop  Mare- 
chal  drew  up  a  memorial,  in  Italian,  which  was  printed 
and  laid  before  the  sovereign  Pontiff.  In  this  he 
claimed  that  the  Bull  erecting  the  see  of  Baltimore 
vested  in  the  Bishop  of  that  see  all  the  property 
which  had  been  held  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in  Mary- 
land ;  and  in  the  next  place  that  the  Maryland  act  of 
incorporation  in  1793  granted  all  this  property  to  the 
Bishop  and  clergy  of  Maryland.  He  also  claimed  that 
Father  Robert  Molyneux  had,  by  a  formal  instrument, 
dated  September  20,  1805,  covenanted  to  pay  per- 
petually to  Rt.  Rev.  John  Carroll  the  yearly  sum 
of  $1000.  He  also  claimed  that  certain  estates,  not- 
ably Deer  Creek  and  Whitemarsh,  were  given  not  to 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  but  to  the  Catholic  Church. 

The  General  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  Fathers  in  Rome 
were  not  prepared  with  documentary  evidence  or 
legal  opinions  to  meet  the  case  thus  presented.  Yet 
the  case  was  a  weak  one,  the  expressions  in  the  Bull 
erecting  the  see  of  Baltimore  could  not  be  construed 
to  operate  as  conveying  any  special  property  abso- 
lutely,^ and  Bishop  Carroll  had  distinctly  renounced 
any  claim  under  it  to  the  estates  held  by  the  Society  of 
Jesus.^  The  Act  of  Incorporation  was  a  mere  change 
of  trustees,  and  created  no  new  beneficiaries  to  enjoy 
the  estates.     The  agreement  purporting  to  be  made  by 

'  The  terms  of  the  Bull  are  general,  ' '  We  commission  the  said  Bishop- 
elect"  ...  "to  administer  ecclesiastical  incomes."  "Life  of  Arch- 
bishop Carroll,"  pp.  342-3.  But  the  Sacred  Congregation  de  Propaganda 
Fide  in  1832  spoke  of  the  estates  which  Pope  Pius  VI.  had  decreed  to 
the  Bishop  of  Baltimore  in  1789. 

'  Note  delivered  to  Trustees  by  Bishop  Carroll,  May  26,  1790. 


JESUIT  ESTATES.  69 

Father  Molyneux  still  exists,  full  of  interlineations 
and  erasures,  evidently  a  draft  never  satisfactorily 
prepared  or  finally  executed,  and  without  seal  or  wit- 
ness.^ 

The  matter  was  referred  by  the  Pope  to  a  commis- 
sion of  Cardinals,  Castiglione,  Fesch,  and  della  Genga, 
who  took  the  affair  into  consideration. 

On  their  decision  in  favor  of  the  claim  of  Arch- 
bishop Marechal,  Pope  Pius  VII.  issued  on  the  23d 
day  of  July,  1822,  a  Brief  requiring  Father  Aloy- 
sius  Fortis,  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  the 
Jesuits  of  Maryland  to  put  Archbishop  Marechal  in 
possession  of  Whitemarsh,  or  as  much  thereof  as  did 
not  exceed  two  thousand  acres,  any  mortgage  on  it  to 
be  paid  by  the  Jesuits.  If,  subsequently,  they  could 
show  that  some  other  plantation  could  be  conveyed 
with  less  injury  to  them,  they  were  allowed  to  make 
representations.  All  other  property  was  then  secured 
to  the  Jesuits.^ 

When  this  Brief  was  transmitted  to  Maryland, 
Father  Charles  Neale,  the  Superior  of  the  Jesuits, 
drew  up  a  protest  declaring  it  surreptitious,  and  ob- 
tained without  allowing  the  Maryland  Jesuits  to  pre- 
sent their  case  before  the  commission.  He  maintained 
that  the  Act  of  Incorporation  gave  no  rights  as  bene- 
ficiaries to  any  who  had  not  such  rights  before  ;  cited 
Bishop  Carroll's  disclaimer,  and  declared  that  no  act 
of  Father  Molyneux  before  the  restoration  of  the  So- 
ciety could  bind  them,  even  if  it  had  been  properly 
entered  into  by  him,  and  that  under  no  pretext  could 

'  This  document  is  now  in  Bishops'  Memorial  Hall,  Notre  Dame,  Indi- 
ana. It  was  never  produced,  except  in  the  form  of  a  copy,  in  the  pro- 
ceedings at  Rome. 

'  Brief  "  Quum  nobis  relatum,"  BuUarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  iv.,  p. 
394. 


70         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

his  individual  act  bind  a  corporation  created  by  the 
laws  of  Maryland.^ 

This  protest  was  after  a  time  submitted  by  the  Gen- 
eral, and  the  Archbishop  replied  to  it  at  length.  But 
the  matter  was  still  far  from  settlement,  Dr.  Marechal 
asking  that  all  the  Maryland  Jesuits  who  refused  to 
yield  should  be  expelled  from  the  Society,  and  pro- 
hibited from  leaving  Maryland  without  his  per- 
mission.^ 

The  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  1822  had  de- 
clined to  sign  papers  of  transfer  prepared  for  him,^  and 
the  matter  was  frequently  debated  in  sessions  of  the 
Congregatio  de  Propaganda  Fide.  On  the  10th  of 
June,  1824,  Cardinals  Castiglione,  afterwards  Pope 
Pius  VIII.,  and  de  Gregorio  were  appointed  to  confer 
with  the  General  in  regard  to  the  matter.  The  Gen- 
eral showed  that  he  had  ordered  the  Maryland 
Fathers  to  pay  the  Arclibishop  $1000  a  year.  The 
Propaganda,  on  the  26th  of  Jul}^,  refused  to  allow  the 
matter  to  be  settled  in  that  way,  and  insisted  that 
within  six  months  the  Whitemarsh  property  should 
be  conveyed  to  Archbishop  Marechal  in  compliance 
with  the  brief.* 

The  whole  affair  had  already  been  laid  before  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  at  this  period 
government  expressed  itself  so  strongly  that  the  Sove- 
reign Pontiff,  after  meetings  of  the  Propaganda,  May 
29  and  June  20,  1826,  accepted  a  proposition  made  by 
the  General,  in  his  name  and  that  of  his  successors,  to 
pay   Archbishop   Marechal,    during  his   natural  life, 

'Protest  of  Fr.  Charles  Neale,  St.  Thomas,  Nov.  32,  1822. 
«  Archbishop  Marechal  to  Cardinal  Consalvi,  Dec.  37,  1833  (?3). 
^  C.  M.  Pedicini,  Secy,  of  Propaganda,  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  May 
35,  1823. 
■*  Cardinal  de  Somaglia  to  same,  Aug.  14,  1824. 


EPISCOPAL  NOMINATIONS.  71 

annually,  800  Roman  crowns  from  November  1,  1826, 
and  Cardinal  Somaglia  wrote  that  the  Pope  and  the 
Sacred  Congregation  thought  that  the  offer  ought  to 
be  accepted/ 

Cases  which  have  since  arisen  make  it  evident  that 
the  Holj^  See  holds  that  by  the  suppression  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Society  vested  in  the  Pope,  to  be  disposed 
of  by  him  in  the  best  interest  of  religion.  This, 
though  not  exjDressed  in  the  documents,  will  explain 
the  action  in  the  Maryland  controversy.^ 

During  his  stay  in  Rome,  Archbishop  Marechal  was 
made  a  Domestic  Prelate  to  his  Holiness  and  received 
from  him  an  elegant  gold  chalice,  which  is  preserved 
in  his  Cathedral. 

Among  other  important  matters  he  induced  the 
Sacred  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide  to  lay  down 
clear  and  distinct  rules  as  to  the  tenure  of  Church 
property  in  the  United  States,  and  also  to  establish  a 
plan  for  the  nomination  of  Bishops  to  future  vacancies 
occurring  in  the  episcopate. 

When  he  complained  at  Rome  of  the  interference  of 
the  hierarchy  of  another  country  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Church  in  the  United  States,  he  was  met  with  the 
sneering  remark  that  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore 
and  his  suffragans  had  no  right  to  nominate  to  vacant 
sees.  His  reply  was  made  in  an  appeal  to  the  Pope. 
"  We  freely  confess  that  we  have  no  right  to  present 
Bishops  for  the  province  of  Baltimore.  ISTo  such  right 
has  ever  been  granted  to  us  by  the  Holy  See.  There- 
fore we  do  not  possess  it.  Nay  more,  I  and  my  suffra- 
gans, who  have  occupied  episcopal  sees  in  America  for 

'  Statement  of  Archbishop  Marechal,  "  De  mensa  Episcopal!  Prsesulis 
Bait."    Cardinal  Somaglia  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Aug.  5,  1826. 

"^  The  Pious  Fund  of  California,  and  the  Jesuit  Estates  in  the  Province 
of  Quebec. 


72         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

many  years,  sincerely  desire  to  be  free  from  so  for- 
midable a  burden Yet  it  is  certain  that  tliey 

must  be  nominated  by  some  one  ;  but  who,  consider- 
ing the  distance  of  North  America  from  the  Roman 
See,  is  to  present  capable  and  worthy  subjects  ?    Surely 

the  Irish  Bishops  cannot  do  so  to  advantage The 

Irish  Bishops  have  only  an  imperfect  knowledge  of 
our  America,  such  as  they  glean  from  geographies  and 
books  of  travel.  Unacquainted  with  the  disposition 
and  customs  of  our  Americans,  it  is  utterly  impossible 
for  them  to  nominate  men  who  suit  our  States." 

He  exposed  also  to  the  Holy  See  the  danger  to  the 
whole  Catholic  body  in  the  United  States,  if  it  could 
be  charged  that  the  Bishops  were  nominated  by  the 
Bishops  of  a  foreign  country.  A  decree  was  in  prepa- 
ration granting  the  Archbishop  and  his  suffragans  the 
right  to  nominate,  when  the  true  character  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Inglesi,  whom  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  recommended  as 
his  coadjutor,  was  fully  disclosed.  In  consequence, 
the  decree  was  so  modified  that  only  a  right  of  recom- 
mending suitable  persons  for  vacancies  in  the  episco- 
pate was  granted  to  the  American  hierarchy.^ 

During  the  absence  of  the  Archbishop  in  Europe, 
the  Y.  Rev.  Mr.  Tessier,  on  the  Feast  of  All  Saints, 
November  1,  1821,  blessed  the  Chapel  of  the  Visita- 
tion Convent  at  Georgetown,  which  had  been  com- 
pleted. Y.  Rev.  Mr.  Tessier  also  blessed  St.  Peter's 
Church  in  Washington  City  on  the  4th  of  Novem- 
ber.^ This  was  not  the  only  church  added  to  the 
diocese,  for  we  find  the  Administrator,  on  May  19, 
1822,  blessing  the  church  which  had  been  erected  at 
Long  Green  by  Mr.  O'Brien. 

'  Archbishop  Marechal  to  Bishops  Flaget  and  David,  March  24,  1826  ; 
Decree,  June  3,  1822. 

*  Tessier,  fipoques  du  Seminaire. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  MARYLAND.  73 

As  we  have  seen,  Northern  Alabama  and  Mississippi 
remained  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Baltimore,  but  in  1822,  to  effect  projects  proposed 
by  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  a  bull  was  issued  by  which  these 
were  detached  from  the  diocese  of  Baltimore.  This 
seems  to  have  elicited  a  protest  from  Archbishop 
Marechal,  and  it  was  not  carried  out. 

Florida  was  added  to  the  Vicariate  Apostolic  thus 
created,  and  on  the  14th  of  July,  1823,  Pius  VII., 
by  his  Brief  "  Quum  Superiori  Anno,"  abrogated 
the  Letters  Apostolic  creating  the  Vicariate.  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi  thus  reverted  to  the  diocese  of 
Baltimore.^ 

Archbishop  Marechal  then  formally  abdicated  his 
jurisdiction  over  the  two  States,  which  was  accepted 
by  the  Vo^e ;  and  by  his  Bull  of  August  19,  1825, 
Mississippi  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  of  New  Orleans  as  Vicar  Apostolic,^  and  on 
August  26,  1825,  Alabama  and  Florida  were  made  a 
Vicariate  Apostolic,  which  Pius  VIII.,  by  his  Letters 
Apostolic,  "Inter  Multiplices,"  May  15,  1829,  erected 
into  the  diocese  of  Mobile. 

The  final  action  was  taken  in  a  session  of  the  Con- 
gregation de  Propaganda  Fide,  held  December  22, 
1824,  but  it  was  not  carried  out  by  the  issuing  of 
Bulls  till  the  consent  of  Archbishop  Marechal  was 
forwarded.^ 

By  all  these  acts   the   diocese  of  Baltimore,  well 

'  Bull  "Quura  Nos  Hodie,"  Aug.  13,  1822.  BuUarium  de  Propaganda 
Fide,  iv.,  pp.  399-407.  Cardinal  Somaglia  to  Archbishop  Marechal, 
May  15,  1824,  announces  that  this  part  of  his  diocese  had  been  restored 
to  him. 

*  "Quum  Venerabilis,"  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  pp.  14,  46. 

^  Cardinal  Somaglia  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Jan.  29,  1825. 


74         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

equipped  with  seminaries,  colleges,  and  institutions, 
was  finally  reduced  from  an  extent  equal  to  the  Re- 
public, to  a  single  one  of  the  smaller  States  with  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  States  which,  had  they  re- 
mained under  the  see  of  Baltimore,  would  have  bene- 
fited by  these  institutions,  Avere  left  to  struggle  along 
without  resources  to  create  them. 

Archbishop  Marechal,  after  accomplishing  to  some 
extent  the  objects  which  he  had  in  view  in  visiting 
Rome,  returned  to  Baltimore,  reaching  that  city  Nov- 
ember 24,  1822. 

Tlie  next  spring  he  resumed  his  visitation,  conferring 
the  sacrament  of  confirmation,  stimulating  the  zeal  of 
the  faithful  to  improve  old  churches  or  erect  new  ones. 
The  increased  number  of  confirmations  showed  the 
good  results  of  his  appearing  among  the  peo^^le.  The 
seminary  at  Emmitsburg  showed  encouraging  prog- 
ress, and  here,  in  May,  1823,  he  tonsured  John  Purcell, 
future  Archbishop  of  Cincinnati,  and  conferred  minor 
orders  on  him  and  another  seminarian  ;  and  on  the 
24th  ordained  priests  four  members  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus  in  St.  Patrick's  Church,  GeorgetoAvn, — one. 
Father  James  van  de  Yelde,  destined  to  be  Bishop  of 
Chicago  and  of  Natchez. 

The  church  at  Carroll  Manor  and  a  parochial  resi- 
dence were  to  be  conveyed  to  him  ;  the  church  at 
Frederick  had  been  improved ;  at  Maryland  tract 
Messrs.  Jamison  and  Belt  w^ere  preparing  to  erect  a 
church  on  land  given  by  the  family  of  Governor  Lee. 
At  Liberty,  Mr.  Cole,  a  convert,  had  erected  a  fine 
stone  church,  and  promised  land  for  a  cemetery  and 
parochial  residence.  Archbishop  Marechal  blessed 
the  church  on  the  28th  of  September ;  a  solemn  pon- 
tifical high  mass,  with  deacon  and  sub-deacon,  the 
administration  of  the  sacrament  of  confirmation,  an 


THE  CHURCH  IN  MARYLAND.  75 

eloquent  sermon,  and  fine  music  attracted  such  crowds 
from  all  the  neighborhood,  that  the  Methodist  church 
was  deserted  and  no  service  took  place. 

Georgetown  College  had  progressed  under  the  im- 
pulse given  by  the  able  Father  John  Grassi,  who  pre- 
sided over  it  from  1812  to  1817.  He  introduced  the 
regular  system  observed  in  the  colleges  of  the  Society 
in  Europe,  and  the  work  of  complete  organization  was 
carried  on  by  Very  Rev.  Father  Kenney,  who  was  sent 
over  as  visitor.  The  good  work  was  continued  under 
the  presidency  of  Rev.  Benedict  Fenwick  (1817-18), 
Rev.  Anthony  Kohlmann  (1818-20),  and  Rev.  Enoch 
Fenwick  (1820-2).  Degrees  under  the  charter  were 
first  conferred  in  1817,  when  Charles  and  George  Din- 
nies  received  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts.  In  1822 
Rev.  Thomas  C.  Levins  arrived  from  Europe  to  take 
charge  of  the  chairs  of  mathematics  and  natural  phil- 
osophy, for  which  he  had  remarkable  ability.  The 
college  at  this  time  had  its  seven  classes  from  rudi- 
ments to  philosophy,  and  had  between  fifty  and  sixty 
pupils. 


CHAPTER  III. 

DIOCESE  OF  RICHMOND. 
RT.  REV.  PATRICK  KELLY,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1820—1822. 

The  See  of  Riclimond  was  established  by  Pope  Pius 
VII.,  on  the  11th  day  of  July,  1820,  by  his  Brief  "Inter 
Multiplices."  The  reason  for  the  erection  of  the  new 
diocese  is  stated  :  "Whereas,  we  have  been  long  since 
been  petitioned  to  erect  the  State  of  Virginia  in  North 

SIGNATURE   OF  PATRICK  KELLY,    BISHOP   OF  RICHMOND. 

America,  which  is  included  in  the  diocese  of  Balti- 
more, into  a  new  diocese  separate  therefrom  ;  and, 
whereas,  it  seems  highly  expedient  for  the  extinction 
of  schisms  that  have  arisen  there,  that  a  Bishop  should 
be  apxDointed  specially  for  that  State,  more  especially 
as  the  State  of  Maryland,  which  is  subject  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore,  and  is  filled  with  a  great  number 
of  Catholics,  requires  so  much  of  the  said  Archbishop's 
care,  that  he  can  with  difficulty  bestow  any  on  other 
States."  The  Pope  then,  by  the  advice  of  the  Congre- 
gation de  Propaganda,  detached  Virginia,  but  not  the 
District  of  Columbia,  from  the  diocese  of  Baltimore, 
and  erecting  a  new  see  at  Richmond,  assigned  the 
State  of  Virginia  as  the  diocese  dependent  on  it.^ 

The  clergyman  selected  for  the  new  see  was  the  Rev. 
Patrick  Kelly,  then  about  forty  years  of  age  and  Presi- 

'  Bull  erecting  see  of  Richmond,  July  11,  1820. 


RT.  REV.  PATRICK  KELLY,  FIRST  BISHOP  OF  RICHMOKD. 


77 


A  PROTEST.  79 

dent  of  St.  John's  Seminary,  Birclifield,  Kilkenny. 
He  was  a  learned  priest,  educated  in  the  Irish  College 
at  Lisbon,  and  is  said  to  have  taught  theology  in 
Rome.  After  his  return  to  Ireland  he  was  curate  at 
Inistiogue,  showing  himself  devoted  and  laborious 
in  his  ministry,  endearing  himself  to  the  poor  by  his 
charity.  He  then  taught  mathematics,  philosophy, 
and  theology  at  the  seminary,  and  finally  became 
president.  He  was  of  great  strength  and  colossal  pro- 
portions, but  though  iDious,  prudent,  and  of  great  integ- 
rity, he  was  rigid,  unyielding,  and  haughty,^  He 
received  his  bulls  on  the  12th  of  August,  1820,  and 
made  immediate  preparations  for  his  consecration, 
which  took  place  on  the  24th  in  St.  James'  Chai^el,  the 
Most  Rev.  Dr.  Troy  of  Dublin  being  consecrator,  with 
Bishops  Murray  and  Marum  as  assistants,  and  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King  of  England  being- 
administered.  Bishop  Kelly  solicited  means  from  the 
Propaganda  to  make  his  voyage  to  Virginia,^  and  after 
taking  part  in  the  consecration  of  Bislioj)  England, 
he  set  sail. 

He  landed  in  New  York,  and  proceeding  to  Balti- 
more announced  himself  to  Archbishop  Marechal  as 
Bishop  of  the  newly  erected  diocese  of  Richmond. 
The  Archbishop  gave  a  Avritten  statement  in  which, 
after  rehearsing  his  constant  protests  against  the 
turbulent  men  at  Norfolk,  protests  transmitted  to 
Cardinal  Litta  and  his  successor  Cardinal  Fontana,  he 
continued:  "Although  it  would  be  entirely  lawful 
for  us  to  oppose  the  erection  of  the  said  see,  whether 
we  consider  the  wicked  means  by  which  it  was  ob- 
tained, or  the  scandals  and  calamities  of  every  kind, 

'  Fitzpatrick,  "  Life  of  Rt.  Rev.  Dr  Doyle,"  Dublin,  1861,  pp.  14&-9. 
«Rev.  P.  Kelly  to  Rev.  John  Rice,  O.S.A.,  July  16,  Aug.  13,  1820. 


80         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

which  will  undoubtedly  be  the  result ;  yet  fearing 
that  the  said  enemies  of  the  Church  of  Christ  will 
take  occasion  even  from  our  most  justly  founded 
opposition,  to  inflict  the  most  serious  injury  on  the 
Catholic  religion,  your  Lordship  may,  as  you  judge 
best,  proceed  or  not  to  take  possession  of  the  new  see 
and  diocese  of  Virginia  according  to  the  tenor  of  the 
Bulls  transmitted  to  you.  But  to  assure  the  tran- 
quillity of  our  conscience  we  hereby  distinctly  declare 
to  your  Lordship,  that  we  in  no  wise  give  or  yield  our 
assent  positively  to  this  most  unfortunate  action  of 
the  Sacred  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide.  If 
you  carry  it  out,  we  are  to  be  held  free  before  God  and 
the  Church  now  and  hereafter  from  all  the  evils  and 
scandals  which  the  Catholic  religion  suffers  or  may 
suffer  from  it  in  these  United  States."  ^ 

He  also  wrote  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect,  expressing 
his  astonishment  at  such  steps  without  the  slightest 
notice  to  him,  and  appealed  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff. 
"Therefore,  Most  Eminent  Cardinal,  two  vagabund 
friars,  Browne  and  Carbry,  concocting  their  schemes 
with  other  Irish  friars  living  in  Rome,  have  prevailed  ; 
and  the  Sacred  Congregation,  deceived  by  the  absurd 
calumnies  of  such  men,  has  made  itself  the  instrument 
to  carry  out  their  impious  schemes."  ^ 

Notwithstanding  this  action  of  Archbishop  Marechal, 
Bishop  Kelly  proceeded  to  Norfolk,  the  place  assigned 
as  his  I'esidence,  which  he  reached  the  next  day,  Jan- 
uary 19,  1821.  It  was  a  strange  commentary  on  the 
statement  made  at  Rome,  that  Norfolk  was  at  such  an 
immense  distance  from  Baltimore  that  the  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore  could  not  possibly  attend  it,  to  find  that 

'  Protest  of  Archbishop  Marechal,  January  18,  1831. 
2  Letter  Jan.  18,  1821. 


CARBRY'S  REVOLT.  81 

even  in  those  days  of  comparatively  slow  travel  the  dis- 
tance could  be  traversed  in  less  than  twenty-four  hours. 
Deeply  imbued  with  the  prejudice  so  studiously 
created  in  Rome,  against  the  management  of  the  church 
at  Norfolk  by  the  venerable  Carroll  and  his  successors, 
Bishop  Kelly  refused  to  give  faculties  to  the  excellent 
Mr.  Lucas/  and  put  himself  in  communication  with 
those  who  had  promised,  at  Rome,  to  erect  a  cathedral 
and  maintain  a  bishop.  He  gave  faculties  to  Father 
Carbry,  who,  after  planning  a  Jansenist  diocese  and 
officiating  without  any  authority,  thus  found  himself 
a  priest  in  good  standing  in  the  diocese  of  Richmond. 
Bishop  Kelly  was  soon  undeceived ;  he  saw  that  the 
Catholics  of  iS"orfolk,  even  if  harmonious,  united,  full 
of  zeal  and  a  spirit  of  sacrifice,  could  not  erect  a  suit- 
able church,  or  give  him  any  such  maintenance  as  he 
had  a  right  to  expect.  In  a  very  short  time  Father 
Carbry  was  in  full  revolt  against  the  new  Bishop,  and, 
with  his  adherents,  closed  the  door  of  the  wretched 
little  church  against  Dr.  Kelly,  who  now  saw  that  the 
national  plea  had  been  merely  a  pretext  for  insubordi- 
nation. The  very  men  who  had  clamored  for  an  Irish 
priest  now  turned  against  an  Irish  Bishop,  selected 
especially  to  see  that  their  fancied  wrongs  were  re- 
dressed. The  old  feud  continued.  There  was  a  Bish- 
op's party  and  a  trustees'  party,  each  endeavoring  to 
secure  possession  of  the  church,  till  the  civil  authorities 

'  Bishop  Kelly,  June  23,  1821,  to  Mr.  Joseph  Magagnos,  who  had 
written  in  belialf  of  the  practical  Catholics.  "I  lately  informed  Mr, 
Lucas  that  his  removal  from  Norfolk  appeared  to  me  likely  to  benefit 
religion  here,  by  promoting  peace  in  this  distracted  congregation.  That 
opinion  still  gains  ground  in  my  mind.  Of  this,  at  all  events,  I  am  certain, 
that  much  of  the  opposition  and  vexation  I  am  every  day  encountering 
is  occasioned  by  his  presence.  I  should  deem  it,  therefore,  a  great  favor 
if  your  Grace  were  pleased  to  recall  him  to  your  own  diocese."  Letter 
to  Archbishop  Marechal,  April  26,  1821. 


82         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

intervened  and  twenty-one  were  arrested.^  Cruelly 
undeceived,  Bishop  Kelly  opened  a  school,  in  order  to 
maintain  himself  till  the  Holy  See  could  relieve  him. 
The  diocese  afforded  little  hor^e.  Catholics  being  few  in 
the  East,  those  in  Richmond  having  merely  a  hired 
building,  though  a  generous  devise  of  Mr.  Gallego  gave 
them  a  site,  and  means  to  erect  a  church.^  Up  to  this 
time,  like  their  fellow  believers  in  Martinsburgh, 
Winchester,  Wheeling,  they  depended  on  visits  from 
Maryland  and  Western  Pennsylvania.  Toward  the 
close  of  the  year  he  sent  to  Richmond  the  Rev.  James 
Walsh,  who  had  come  from  Ireland  to  his  assistance. 
This  clergyman  rented  a  room  in  the  Southgate  build- 
ing on  lltli  Street  and  revived  the  labors  of  Rev. 
Xavier  Michel,  after  whose  departure  the  Catholics 
had  only  occasional  service  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers.^ 

Up  to  the  year  1817,  Catholicity  was  practically 
nnknown  in  and  around  Wheeling,  but  as  the  work 
on  the  great  Cumberland  road  extended  to  that  part  of 
Virginia,  many  Irish  Catholics  Avho  had  been  employed 
in  the  work  settled  down.  Bishop  Kelly  authorized 
Rev.  Mr.  Maguire  of  Pittsburgh  to  erect  a  church  in 
this  mission,  which  his  predecessor.  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien, 
had  founded.  Mr.  Zane  gave  the  Catholics  a  lot,  and 
though  few  in  number,  they  began  the  erection  of  a 
brick  church  in  gothic  style,  seventy  feet  long  by 
forty-six  in  width,  the  most  imposing  Catholic  edifice 
yet  erected  on  Virginian  soil.  The  church  formed  a 
point  of  attraction  for  Catholic  settlers,  and  so  many 

'  "  Sacra  Congregazione  de  Propaganda  Fide,"  Restretto,  Rome,  1823. 
p.  54. 

*  After  long  litigation  the  will  was  set  aside.     "Weekly  Register,  i. ,  p.  23. 

'  Hon.  A.  M.  Keiley,  "  Memoranda  of  the  History  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  Richmond,  Va."  Norfolk,  1874.  Diary  of  Archbishop  Mare- 
chal. 


BISHOP  KELLY  LEAVES  VIRGINIA.  83 

gathered  that  a  flourishing  congregation  was  soon 
formed. 

On  the  last  day  of  June,  1821,  Bishop  Kelly  M'as 
cheered  by  the  arrival  of  the  Bishop  of  Charleston, 
who  had  visited  the  Catholic  congregations  in  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina,  and  had  traversed  North  Caro- 
lina as  far  as  Elizabeth.  While  in  Norfolk,  Bishop 
England  preached  several  times  and  exchanged  facul- 
ties of  Vicar  General  with  Bishop  Kelly.^ 

The  Sovereign  Pontiff  had  promised  to  remove 
Bishoj)  Kelly  when  a  suitable  vacancy  occurred,  and 
on  the  death  of  Bishop  Walsh  of  Waterford  and  Lis- 
more,  transferred  him  to  that  united  see.  Bishop 
Kelly,  after  confirming  all  children  over  eight  or  nine 
years  of  age,  accordingly  left  Virginia  in  July,  1822.^ 
Archbishop  Marechal  was  appointed  Administrator 
of  the  diocese  of  Richmond,  but  as  the  arrangement 
might  be  only  a  temporary  one,  it  long  prevented 
active  exertion  for  the  good  of  religion  in  Virginia. 

1  Bishop  England's  Diary  :  TJ.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  iii.,  p.  14. 
«  Bishop  Kelly  died  suddenly,  Oct.  8, 1829. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
DIOCESES  OF  BALTIMORE  AND  EICHMOND. 

MOST  REV.    AMBEOSE  MARECHAL,    1822-1828,   THIRD   ARCHBISHOP 
OF  BALTIMORE. 

Oi^  resuming  jurisdiction  over  Virginia,  Archbishop 
Marechal  i^laced  at  Norfolk  two  zealous  priests,  Rev. 
Messrs.  Christopher  Delany  and  Hore,  the  unfortu- 
nate Carbry  withdrawing  to  a  mountain  district  in 
North  Carolina.  He  provided  for  the  Catholics  at 
Richmond,  and  was  rejoiced  to  see  the  congregation 
at  Wheeling  prosper  ;  and  when  a  new  town,  Triadel- 
phia,  was  founded,  in  1823,  Catholics  settled  there  in 
numbers  sufficient  to  justify  their  erecting  a  church. 
Twenty-five  lots  were  secured  and  a  stone  church, 
sixty-three  feet  long  by  twenty-eight  wide,  was  erected. 
The  churches  at  Wheeling  and  Triadelphia,  with  a 
congregation  formed  at  Grave  Creek,  the  Archbishop 
confided  to  the  care  of  the  Rev.  Anthony  Myrthe.^ 
Dr.  Marechal  visited  these  churches  in  the  summer 
of  1824,  administering  confirmation,  and  praising  the 
zeal  and  liberality  of  the  faithful.^ 

Stimulated  by  this  example,  the  Catholics  at  Rich- 
mond, under  the  impulse  given  by  Mr.  John  Andrews, 
a  convert,  resolved  to  leave  the  house  which  the 
congregation  had  used,  and  to  set  to  work  earnestly 
to  erect  a  suitable  church  and  make  provision  for  the 
support  of  a  priest.  But  Rev.  Mr.  Delany  regarded 
the  provision  as  very  uncertain,  the  only  person  of 

'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  iii.,  pp.  14-15. 
2  Diary,  Aug.  37-29,  1824. 

84 


MBS.   MATTINGLY.  85 

means,  Mr.  Chevallier,  being  about  to  return  to  France. 
Rev.  Mr.  Hore  attended  Point  Comfort,  but  the  Cath- 
olics were  so  few,  that  he  withdrew  before  long.  Yet 
there  were  conversions  to  console  the  missioner,  and 
Rev.  Mr.  Delany  reported,  in  1825,  that  during  the 
preceding  autumn  he  had  baptized  a  family  of  four 
at  Smithfield,  forty-five  miles  from  Norfolk.^  At 
Lynchburg  the  Catholic  body  had  so  increased,  how- 
ever, that  they  appealed  for  a  resident  clergyman.^ 

Thrown  into  the  midst  of  a  Protestant  or  unbeliev- 
ing community,  the  faithful  rarely  sought  from  God 
supernatural  aid  in  their  afflictions.  A  spirit  of  faith 
was  aroused,  however,  mainly  through  the  ministry 
of  a  worthy  priest,  Prince  Alexander  Hohenlohe  of 
Bamberg,  who  urged  on  all  recourse  to  prayer  in  order 
to  obtain  relief  from  God.  He  promised  to  offer  the 
holy  sacrifice  of  the  Mass  in  concert  with  any  who 
sought  union  with  him  in  prayer.  The  results  of  this 
united  aj)peal  to  the  Sacred  Heart  were  so  general  and 
so  consoling  that  from  all  countries  of  Europe  the 
afflicted  appealed  to  Prince  Hohenlohe.  A  violent  and 
unphilosophical  attack  on  the  Prince  in  the  Edinburgh 
Review  served  to  make  the  facts  more  generally 
known,  and  Bishop  England  in  the  Catholic  Miscel- 
lany exposed  the  shallow  reasoning  of  the  Reviewer. 
The  complete  and  sudden  cure  of  Mrs.  Ann  Mattingly, 
sister  of  the  Mayor  of  Washington  City,  came  at  this 
juncture  as  a  most  complete  justification  of  Catholic 
confidence  in  the  supernatural  power  of  prayer. 


'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  iii..  p.  223.  Oct.  13,  1824,  29,  Nov.  17. 
Rev.  C.  Delany  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  March  6,  1823,  July  7.  1824, 
June  8,  1825. 

'  Wm.  Duffy  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  March  6,  1823.  Thej  were 
able  to  promise  $400  a  year  for  his  support. 


86         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Mrs.  Mattingiy  had  for  years  labored  under  a  severe 
malady,  which  was  regarded  by  physicians  as  incura- 
ble. She  had  not  been  able  to  leave  her  bed  for  a 
year,  and  for  months  at  a  time  could  not  even  turn. 
Father  Anthony  Kohlmann  and  Father  S.  L.  Dubuia- 
son  urged  the  afflicted  lady  to  prepare  by  a  novena 
in  honor  of  the  holy  name  of  Jesus  for  the  10th  of 
March,  on  which  day  Prince  Hohenlohe  offered  the 
holy  sacrifice  in  union  with  those  residing  out  of 
Europe.  On  the  morning  of  the  10th,  both  priests 
offered  the  holy  sacrifice  for  her,  and  Father  Dubuis- 
son  took  the  Blessed  Sacrament  to  her.  During  the 
novena  she  had  grown  worse,  but  her  faith  was  un- 
shaken. Father  Dubuisson  gave  her  holy  communion, 
and  was  still  kneeling  before  the  pix,  which  contained 
consecrated  hosts,  when  he  saw  Mrs.  Mattingiy  rise 
slowly  in  the  bed,  stretch  out  her  arms,  join  her  hands 
and  exclaim,  "Lord  Jesus!  what  have  I  done  to 
deserve  so  great  a  favor?"  While  all  present  were 
sobbing  from  emotion  and  alarm,  Father  Dubuisson 
rose  and  took  her  hand.  "Ghostly  Father!"  she 
continued,  "what  can  I  do  to  acknowledge  such  a 
blessing  ?  My  first,  my  spontaneous  expressions  are  : 
'  Glory  be  to  God  !  we  may  say  so  !  oh,  what  a  day  for 
us.'  "  He  asked  her  how  she  felt.  She  replied  :  "  Not 
the  least  pain  left."  "  None  there  ?  "  he  asked,  point- 
ing to  her  breast.  "Not  the  least,  only  some  weak- 
ness." She  insisted  on  arising,  dressed,  and  walking 
to  the  table  on  which  the  Blessed  Sacrament  lay  knelt 
down  in  adoration. 

Father  Dubuisson  having  another  sick  call  to  attend 
left  soon  after,  but  returned  with  Rev.  William 
Matthews,  and  was  received  at  the  door  by  Mrs. 
Mattingiy  herself.  A  pamphlet,  containing  thirty-four 
affidavits  of  the  attending  physicians  and  of  persons 


REMARKABLE  CURE.  87 

familiar  with  lier  condition  for  months,  and  witnesses 
of  her  sudden  and  complete  restoration,  was  printed 
by  the  authority  of  Archbishop  Marechal,  who  said : 
"I  have  read  with  considerable  attention,  the  certifi- 
cates relative  both  to  the  long  and  dangerous  sickness 
of  Mrs.  A.  Mattingly,  and  to  the  instantaneous  and 
admirable  cure  which  she  has  obtained  from  the 
mercy  of  Almighty  God.  Such  is  the  number  of  the 
witnesses,  their  well-known  integrity,  candor,  and 
intelligence,  that  their  testimonies  are  certainly  en- 
titled to  the  greatest  respect  and  credibility,  about 
facts  which  were  obvious  to  their  senses,  and  which 
they  had  frequent  opportunities  of  observing."  ^ 

The  effect  of  Mrs.  Mattingly' s  cure  was  remarkable. 
It  seemed  to  revive  the  dormant  faith  of  Catholics,  and 
was  followed  by  an  increase  of  piety  and  devotion. 
Other  cures,  especially  those  of  Sister  Beatrix  Myers 
and  Sister  Apollonia  Digges  at  the  Visitation  Convent, 
Georgetown,  and  of  L.  Chevigne,  professor  of  mathe- 
matics at  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  kept  alive 
the  feeling  produced,  and  by  their  far-reaching  in- 
fluence aroused  a  new  spirit  among  the  faithful.^ 


•  United  States  Catholic  Miscellany,  ii.,  pp.  56,  70  ;  "A  Collection  of 
Affidavits  and  Certificates  relative  to  the  wonderful  cure  of  Mrs.  Ann 
Mattingl}",  which  took  place  in  the  City  of  Washington,  D.  C,  on  the 
tenth  of  March,  1824,"  Washington.  1824,  8vo,  pp.  41.  Bishop  England 
analyzed  this  pamphlet  in  the  Miscellany,  pp.  351-403,  and  subsequently 
issued  ' '  Examination  of  Evidence  and  Report  to  the  Most  Rev.  James 
Whitfield,  D.D.,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  etc.,  upon  the  Miraculous 
Restoration  of  Mrs.  Ann  ]\Iattingly."  Charleston,  1830,  pp.  42,  reprinted 
in  Works,  iii.,  pp  393-447. 

^  England's  Works,  iii.,  pp.  472-6  ;  Guerison de  Soeiir Marie  Apollonie 
Digges,  Religieuse le  20  Janvier,  1831.  Fribourg,  pp.  16.  An- 
nals of  the  Visitation,  ch.  21.  Sister  Apollonia,  whose  consumptive  ten- 
dencies alarmed  Archbishop  Neale  in  1817,  and  who  was  at  the  point  of 
death  in  1831,  lived  to  the  year  1889. 


88         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

One  of  the  subjects  which  engaged  the  attention  of 
Archbishop  Marechal  was  that  of  holding  a  provincial 
council.  Bishop  England  had  pressed  it  earnestly, 
but  the  Archbishop  was  at  first  fearful  that  it  would 
not  be  attended  by  all  his  suffragans,  and  would  be 
productive  of  little  good,  yet  he  finally  drew  up  the 
plan  of  a  Council,  and  proposed  the  matter  to  His 
Holiness  Pius  YII.,  who,  in  his  Brief  "  IN'on  sine 
magno  "  (August  3,  1823),  approved  the  plan,  as  Pope 
Leo  XII.  did  at  a  later  date. 

During  the  claim  of  Archbishop  Marechal  for  the 
estate  at  Whitemarsh,  the  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  in 
Maryland  resolved  to  disband  the  novitiate  at  that 
place,  and  send  back  the  young  men  to  Belgium, 
whence  many  had  come  with  Rev.  Charles  !N'erinckx, 
in  1821.  Among  them  were  F.  J.  Van  Assche,  Peter 
J.  De  Smet,  P.  J.  Verhaegan,  J.  A.  Elet,  F.  L.  Ver- 
reydt,  and  J.  B  Smedts.  While  the  matter  was  still 
pending,  and  some  believed  that  by  removing  the  no- 
vitiate to  St.  Thomas's  Manor  means  might  be  found 
to  maintain  it.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  of  Louisiana  arrived 
in  Washington  to  see  what  aid  could  be  obtained 
from  government  for  educating  the  Indians  in  his  vast 
diocese.  When  he  learned  that  these  zealous  young 
novices  might  be  sent  back  to  Europe,  he  resolved  to 
secure,  if  possible,  this  hopeful  band  of  auxiliaries  for 
his  diocese.  He  offered  to  transport  Father  Charles 
Van  Quickenborne,  the  Master  of  Novices,  with  his 
whole  establishment,  to  Missouri.  When  Archbishop 
Marechal  heard  of  this  he  protested  against  the  depar- 
ture of  priests  and  ecclesiastics  from  his  diocese  ; 
but  Bishop  Du  Bourg  would  not  yield.  He  maintained 
that  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  had  no  right  to 
detain  the  novices,  young  men  who  had  come  to 
this  country  from  Europe  in  order  to  become  relig- 


REV.   J.   F.   MORANVILLE.  89 

ious,    and  who   had   never  entailed   any  cost  on  the 
diocese.^ 

The  affair  was  at  last  arranged,  and  the  loss  of  Mary- 
land proved  the  gain  of  the  West.  The  zealous  Father 
Van  Quickenborne,  who  had  built  a  church  at  An- 
napolis and  one  near  Whitemarsh,  attending  both 
faithfully,  gathered  his  little  company  for  their  jour- 
ney. They  comprised  his  assistant,  Father  Peter  J. 
Timmermans,  the  novices  already  named,  and  J.  De 
Maillet,  with  three  lay  brothers.  They  set  out  from 
Whitemarsh,  April  11, 1823,  and  the  caravan  of  wagons 
reached  Wheeling,  where  two  liat-boats  were  pur- 
chased, in  which  the  whole  party  embarked  with  all 
their  effects.  With  daily  mass,  and  all  the  exercises 
of  the  novitiate,  they  floated  down  the  Beautiful 
River.  They  laid  up  at  Louisville  to  visit  Rev.  Mr. 
Nerinckx,  and  then  kept  on  to  Shawneetown,  where, 
putting  their  effects  in  a  steamboat,  the  mission  band, 
in  wagon  and  on  foot,  crossed  the  prairies,  and  came 
in  sight  of  St.  Louis,  May  31,  1823,  after  a  six  weeks' 
journey.^ 

Before  the  close  of  1823  the  diocese  of  Baltimore 
lost  the  devoted  priest  Rev.  John  F.  Moranville,  so 
long  pastor  at  Fell's  Point,  Baltimore.  He  had  come 
to  Baltimore  in  1794-i")  from  the  deadly  missions  of 
Cayenne ;  received  by  Bishop  Carroll,  he  began  to 
labor  among  the  French  residents,  till,  having  become 
familiar  with  English,  he  was  appointed  to  St.  Pat- 
rick's congregation  about  1805,  He  set  to  work  with 
energy  to  erect  a  becoming  church,  which  was  blessed 
by  Bishop  Carroll,  November  29, 1807.     The  thorough 

1  Bishop  Du  Boui-iT  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Marcii  C,  21,  1823. 

2  Walter  H.  Hill,  "  Historical  Sketch  of  the  St.  Louis  University." 
St.  Louis,  1879.  pp.  10-20. 


90         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

instruction  of  his  flock,  especially  of  the  young,  was 
his  great  care.  Pious  associations,  and  the  devotion 
of  the  Rosary,  were  among  his  favorite  means  of  keep- 
ing piety  alive.  In  1815  he  organized  St.  Patrick's 
Benevolent  Society,  to  support  a  parochial  school  which 
he  opened,  and  to  relieve  the  suffering  poor.  He 
greatly  aided  the  Trappists,  who  for  a  time  resided 
opposite  his  church.  Ever  devoted  to  the  poor,  he 
seemed  to  multiply  his  strength  and  resources  during 
the  visitations  of  the  yellow  fever.  It  cannot  be  won- 
dered that  his  health  finally  gave  way.  In  1823 
physicians  declared  that  only  by  rest  and  a  voyage  to 
Europe  could  his  life  be  saved.  He  sailed  from  New 
York,  on  the  1st  of  October,  with  Bishoj)  Cheverus,  but 
died  in  the  following  May.^  On  the  25tli  of  January, 
1824,  Archbishop  Marechal,  who,  looking  forward  to  a 
future  University,  had  obtained  from  the  Pope  power 
to  create  and  establish  a  faculty  of  theology,  conferred, 
with  solemnity,  in  his  Cathedral,  the  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Sacred  Theology  on  Rev.  Messrs.  Whitfield,  Deluol, 
and  Damphoux,  priests  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  in  August 
of  the  following  year  organized  the  faculty  of  theology. 
Rev.  Mr.  Du  Bois,  aided  by  Rev.  Simon  G.  Brute, 
had  gone  on  at  Mount  St.  Mary's,  building  up  a  literary 
institution  so  successfully  that  the  scholastic  year, 
1821,  opened  with  seventy-nine  pupils.  He  felt  that  the 
time  had  come  to  replace  the  two  rows  of  log  structures 
by  a  more  enduring  edifice.  Rev,  Mr.  Du  Bois,  as 
President,  Procurator,  and  Treasurer,  undertook  to 
erect  a  stone  college.  He  gathered  the  material,  dug 
the  foundation,  and  saw  the  walls  rise  steadily.  The 
night   of   the   6th   of  June,  1824,   saw  the   building, 


'  B.  U.  Campbell,  "  Memoir  of  the  Rev.  John  Francis  Moranville,' 
U.  S.  Cath.  Mag.,  i.,  pp.  433,  etc. 


MOUNT  ST.    MARY'S.  91 

which  had  cost  $16,000,  nearly  ready  for  occupation  ; 
but  while  men  slept,  flames  worked  their  way  through 
it  till  it  became  a  vast  furnace,  and  the  morning  sun 
rose  on  blackened  walls  arid  smoldering  timbers.  He 
bowed  submissively  to  the  will  of  Providence,  and  be- 
fore the  ruins  were  cold  began  the  work  of  reconstruc- 
tion. Like  others  in  distress  he  appealed  to  Canada 
for  aid,  sending  Rev.  M.  De  Burgo  Egan  to  collect 
there,  which  he  did  successfully.^ 

AVhile  superintending  the  building,  Rev.  Mr.  Du 
Bois  directed  the  farm  work,  taught  classes  in  Latin 
and  French,  and  when  Rev.  Mr.  Brute  was  absent  con- 
tinued his  theological  course.  The  pupils  increased 
steadily  in  number,  and  trained  by  him  and  the  great 
Brute  the  young  were  imbued  with  solid  piety. 
Priests  formed  here  began  to  labor  zealously  in  all 
parts  of  the  country,  somewhat  to  the  jealousy  of  the 
Archbishop,  who  sought  to  claim  them  for  the  diocese 
of  Baltimore. 

At  this  time  the  Sulpitians  in  their  General  Assem- 
bly decided  that  Mount  St.  Mary's  must  be  reduced  to 
its  original  form  and  purpose,  that  of  a  Petit  Semi- 
naire,  or  Preparatory  College,  and  that  the  classes  of 
philosophy  and  theology  must  be  suppressed.  Arch- 
bishop Marechal  urged  Rev.  Mr.  Du  Bois  to  submit, 
and  for  his  own  part  declared  that  he  was  opposed  to 
having  two  theological  seminaries  in  his  diocese.^ 

Rev.  Mr.  Du  Bois,  however,  declared  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  maintain  the  institution,  if  it  were  confined 
to  a  classical  course,   as  he  obtained   his   professors 


'  "  The  Jubilee  of  Mount  St.  Mary's,"  New  York,  1859,  pp.  46,  272  ; 
U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  vli.,  p.  46.  Rev.  John  Du  Bois  to  Bishop 
Plessis,  June  10,  1824. 

'  Rev.  John  Tessier  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Nov.  25,  1824. 


92         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

only  by  affording  tliem  instruction  in  i^hilosopliy  and 
theological  studies  in  return  for  their  services  as  teach- 
ers. To  the  objection  that  his  course  of  study  was  not 
thorough  enough  for  candidates  for  holy  orders,  he 
showed  that  most  of  those  sent  out  from  the  Mountain 
were  zealous  and  laborious  priests.  To  jjrove  the  ser- 
vices that  the  institution  had  rendered  from  1809,  Dr. 
Brute  drew  up  a  list  of  the  109  who  had  studied  there, 
sixty-two  Americans,  thirty-two  Irish,  three  Germans, 
and  fourteen  French.^ 

Many  Catholic  colored  people  accompanied  their  old 
masters  to  Baltimore  at  the  time  of  the  troubles  in 
Saint  Domingo.  Speaking  French,  they  naturally 
tarned  for  spiritual  direction  to  the  priests  of  Saint 
Sulj)ice.  For  thirty-one  years  the  Very  Rev.  Mr. 
Tessier  devoted  himself  to  giving  catechetical  instruc- 
tions to  this  flock,  who  not  only  preserved  the  faith 
themselves  but  won  others.  Rev,  James  Hector  Jou- 
bert,  who  became  his  associate  in  this  good  work, 
sought  to  make  permanent  jDrovision  for  the  education 
of  colored  girls,  and  finding  three  persons  filled  with 
zeal  to  devote  themselves  to  the  work,  Elizabeth 
Lange,  Frances  Balis,  and  Miss  Bogue,  formed  them 
into  a  little  community.  After  long  trial,  and  seeing 
their  perseverance  and  success,  their  director  requested 
Archbishop  Marechal  to  permit  them  to  make  simple 
vows.  His  Grace  approved  their  rule  on  the  5th  of 
June,  1825,  and  the  community  prospered  so  in  union 
and  piety,  as  well  as  in  the  extent  of  its  labors  for  the 
good  of  souls,  that  the  Holj^  See  approved  the  rule 
October  2d,  1831,  endowing  them  with  all  the  privi- 
leges and  indulgences  granted  to  the  Oblates  at 
Rome,    founded    by    St.    Frances    of    Rome.      This 

'  Rev.  Mr.  Brute's  list. 


NOMINATION  OF  BISHOPS.  93 

was   the  origin   of   the  Oblate  Sisters  of  Providence 
at  Baltimore.^ 

Two  sees  in  the  province  became  vacant ;  that  of 
Boston  by  the  departure  of  Bishop  Cheverus  of  Bos- 
ton, in  October,  1823,  and  that  of  New  York  by  the 
death  of  Bishop  Connolly,  February  6,  1825.  Arch- 
bishop Marechal  with  his  suffragans  was  permitted 
by  the  regulations  of  the  Propaganda  to  propose 
clergymen  to  fill  the  vacancies.  The  voice  of  the 
Metropolitan,  and  of  Bishops  Conwell,  England, 
Flaget  and  Fenwick,  recommended  for  the  see  of  Bos- 
ton Rev.  Benedict  J.  Fenwick  of  the  Society  of  Jesus, 
who  had  displayed  great  zeal  and  ability  at  New  York, 
Charleston,  and  as  President  of  Georgetown  College  ; 
and  for  the  see  of  New  York  the  Rev.  John  Du  Bois, 
who  crowned  years  of  mission  life  by  establishing  and 
directing  the  Seminary  and  College  at  Mount  St. 
Mary's,  Emmitsburg. 

Bishop  Fenwick  was  consecrated  on  the  feast  of  All 
Saints,  182o,  in  the  Cathedral  at  Baltimore,  by  the 
Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Marechal,  the  assistant  prelates 
being  Bishop  Conwell  of  Philadelphia  and  Bishop 
England  of  Charleston.  The  ceremonial  was  attended 
by  more  than  thirty  priests,  and  attracted  many  pub- 
lic men,  -and  even  clergymen  of  other  denominations.- 

The  publication  of  Cobbett's  "History  of  the 
Protestant  Reformation,"  of  which  three  different  edi- 
tions were  issued  almost  simultaneously  in  the  United 


'  De  Courcy,  "  Catholic  Church,"  1856,  pp.  114-5.  One  of  the  found- 
res.ses,  Sister  Mary  Elizabeth  Lange,  reached  the  age  of  95,  dying  in 
February,  1882.— Catholic  Review,  Nov.  3,  1883.  Rev.  Mr.  Joubert 
was  born  at  St.  Jean  d'Augely,  France,  Sept.  6,  1777.  and  came  to  Balti- 
more in  Sept.  1804.  He  was  ordained  in  the  Seminary  and  remained 
there  most  of  his  life. 

»U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  v.,  p.  304. 


94         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

States,  was  a  blow  to  Protestant  fallacies  which  was 
severely  felt.  To  counteract  to  some  extent  the  in- 
fluence exerted  by  Cobbett's  work,  a  book  by  Blanco 
White,  a  Spanish  priest  who  had  lost  all  faith,  en- 
titled "  Internal  Evidences  against  Catholicism,"  was 
printed  in  this  country  and  widely  circulated,  with  a 
recommendation  signed  by  a  number  of  Protestant 
clergymen  of  different  denominations.  It  was  ably 
answered  by  an  alumnus  of  St,  Mary's  Seminary, 
Baltimore,  and  more  elaborately  by  the  distinguished 
Bishop  England  of  Charleston.^ 

Yellow  fever  desolated  Norfolk  and  the  adjacent 
parts  of  Virginia  in  the  summer  of  1826  ;  flight  and 
death  greatly  reduced  the  number  of  the  faithful, 
but  Rev.  Mr.  Delany  labored  on  heroically.  His  flock 
in  Norfolk  numbered  only  118  communicants.  Point 
Comfort  had  only  eight  Catholics,  Portsmouth  so  few 
that  only  fifteen  approached  the  sacraments  in  the  two 
places.^ 

After  laying  the  corner-stone  of  a  church  at  Alex- 
andria, June  26,  1826,  Archbishop  Marechal  visited 
Quebec  in  the  interests  of  his  diocese. 

In  October,  1826,  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore  was 
once  more  thronged  by  the  multitudes  who  came  to 
witness  the  imposing  ceremonial  of  the  consecration 
of  a  Bishop.  The  Rev.  John  Du  Bois,  known  for 
mission  labors  in  Virginia,  at  Frederick  and  Emmits- 
burg  in  Maryland,  founder  of  Mount  St.  Mary's 
College,  guide  and  director  of  Mother  Seton  and  her 
community  of  Sisters  of  Charity,  was  to  be  raised  to 

'  "  An  Address  to  the  flocks  of  the  Reverend  Approvers  of  Blanco 
"White's  Internal  Evidences  against  Catholicism."  Baltimore  :  Lucas, 
1826,  pp.  48.     England's  Works. 

«  Truth  Teller,  July  8,  1826. 


JUBILEE  95 

the  episcopate  as  Bishop  of  New  York.  On  the  29th 
a  procession  of  seminarians,  jDriests  and  bishops 
moved  from  the  archiepiscopal  residence  on  Charles 
Street  to  the  Cathedral.  When  they  had  assumed 
their  places  in  the  sanctuary,  the  Archbishop  vested 
for  the  holy  sacrifice.  As  assistants  he  had  Bishop 
Conwell  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Very  Rev.  John 
Power,  Administrator  of  New  York,  who  took  the 
place  of  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  of  Boston,  unable  to 
attend.  The  sermon  of  the  occasion  was  delivered  by 
the  Rev.  William  Taylor  of  New  York,  but  showed 
in  its  violent  expressions  the  strong  partisan  feelings 
prevailing  in  regard  to  the  nomination  of  Bishops  in 
the  United  States.^ 

The  Jubilee  proclaimed  in  Rome  on  the  feast  of  the 
Nativity,  1825,  was  duly  announced  in  the  diocese  of 
Baltimore,  and  the  exercises  in  the  churches  during 
the  year  1826  and  1827  were  attended  with  the  hap- 
piest results.  This  was  especially  the  case  in  the  city 
of  Baltimore,  with  all  the  churches,  the  Cathedral, 
old  St.  Peter's,  St.  John's,  St.  Patrick's  and  St. 
Mary's;  exercises  were  also  given  in  St.  Patrick's  and 
St.  Peter's,  Washington,  and  Trinity  Church,  George- 
town, as  well  as  at  Frederick  and  in  the  churches  in  St. 
Mary's  and  Prince  George's  counties.  The  Jesuits 
and  Sulpitians  assisted  in  preaching  and  hearing  con- 
fessions, as  well  as  in  giving  instructions  to  persons 
wishing  to  enter  the  church.^ 

Archbishop  Carroll  soon  after  being  made  prefect, 
and  subsequently  as   Bishop  of   Baltimore,  adopted 


'  Truth  Teller,  ii.,  pp.  350,  Nov.  4,  1826.  The  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscel- 
lany gives  no  report,  but  expresses  regret  at  the  non-appointment  of  V. 
Rev.  Dr.  Power.     Tessier,  "  fipoques  du  Seminaire." 

'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  vii  ,  p.  14. 


96  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  little  catechism,  long  used  in  England,  and  Avhich 
had  been  prepared  and  carefully  scrutinized  by  able 
theologians,  well  versed  in  their  own  language.  Dr. 
Carroll  simply  replaced  the  prayer  for  the  king  by 
one  for  the  authorities.  In  this  form  the  catechism 
was  used  throughout  the  United  States,  wherever  the 
English  language  was  spoken.  In  the  German  dis- 
tricts and  churches  of  Pennsylvania  that  of  Blessed 
Peter  Canisius  was  employed  ;  and  in  the  northwest 
the  catechism  of  Quebec  was  used  by  the  French- 
speaking  faithful.  The  pious  Bishop  of  Bardstown, 
Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  J.  Flaget,  was  the  first  to  break 
the  uniformity  by  introducing  a  new  catechism.  Its 
English  was  criticised  b}^  Archbishop  Marechal,  Rev. 
Mr.  Tessier,  and  others ;  but  the  example  he  set  was 
followed  by  Bishop  England  and  by  Bishop  Conwell. 
The  new  Philadelphia  catechism  Avas  so  inexact  in 
language  and  doctrinal  expression,  that  at  the  request 
of  the  Archbishop,  Bishop  Conwell  suppressed  it. 
Bishop  England's  was  generally  regarded  as  inferior 
to  that  of  Dr.  Carroll. 

Fearing  that  a  multiplicity  of  discordant  or  mis- 
leading catechisms  might  be  introduced,  Archbishop 
Marechal  called  the  attention  of  the  authorities  in 
Rome  to  the  subject.^ 

On  the  death  of  the  Rev.  J.  Picot  de  Cloriviere,^  who 

'  xirchbishop  Marechal  to  Cardinal  Cappellari,  Oct.  1.  1827. 

'  Joseph  Peter  Picot  de  Limoelan  de  Cloriviere  was  born  at  Brons,  Brit- 
tany, Nov.  4, 1768,  and  was  an  officer  in  the  army  when  the  Revolution 
began.  He  adhered  to  the  King,  fought  bravely  in  La  Vendee,  and  was 
a  major-general  under  Cadoudal.  Resolving  to  renounce  the  world,  he 
came  to  America  and  entering  St.  Mary's  Seminary  was  ordained  in  1812. 
His  long  and  painful  service  at  Charleston  under  constant  persecution 
has  been  already  told.  Of  the  Visitation  Convent  at  Georgetown  he  was 
the  guide,  director  and  benefactor. 


VISITATION  NUNS.  97 

was  stricken  down  with  paralysis  just  after  offering 
the  holy  sacrifice,  and  who  expired  on  the  29th  of 
September,  1826,  the  Rev.  Michael  F.  Wheeler  be- 
came the  director  and  friend  of  the  Visitation  Nuns. 
By  his  zeal,  the  Odeon,  a  fine  additional  building, 
was  erected.  Being  compelled  to  visit  Europe  for  his 
health,  he  strove  in  every  way  to  advance  tlie  inter- 
ests of  that  community.  He  obtained  of  his  Holiness 
Pox^e  Pius  VIII.  a  confirmation  of  the  Brief  of  his 
predecessor,  and  some  modifications  of  the  rule  which 
experience  had  shown  to  be  necessary.  In  order  to 
give  the  Sisters  in  America  the  genuine  spirit  of  the 
Visitation  communities  he  went  to  Annecy  and  ap- 
pealed to  Mother  Magdalen  Chanchy  to  send  some 
Visitation-nuns  to  America  for  a  few  years.  In  re- 
sponse to  the  circular  three,  Sister  Mary  Agatha 
Langlois  of  Nantes,  Sister  Marj^  Regis  Mordant  of 
Valence,  and  Sister  Magdalen  Augustine  of  Friburg, 
came  over  in  1829.  They  found  that  their  American 
Sisters  had  closely  followed  the  rules  and  customs  of 
the  houses  in  Europe,  and  were  edified  by  the  spirit 
that  pervaded  the  monastery.  Sister  Agatha  as  mis- 
tress of  novices  trained  the  aspirants  in  the  true  si)irit, 
and  the  stay  of  these  generous  ladies  proved  most 
beneficial.  The  Academy  at  this  time  was  in  a  flour- 
ishing condition,  having  one  hundred  pupils,  and  the 
free  school  founded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cloriviere  contained 
150.1 

During  the  year  1827  Archbishop  Marechal  con- 
tinued his  active  supervision  of  his  diocese,  visiting 
the  Seminary  and  College  at  Emmitsburg,  the  Con- 
vent at  Georgetown,   confirming  and   ordaining,   but 


>  History  of  the  Establishment  of  the  Order  of  the  Visitation  in  the 
United  States. 


98         THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

an  attack  of  asthma  increased  and  his  health  was 
evidently  failing.^  Before  long  he  became  unable 
to  officiate  pontifically,  though  he  continued  to 
confer  the  sacrament  of  Confirmation  and  Holy  Or- 
ders. He  accordingly  resolved  to  solicit  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Coadjutor,  naming  Rev.  James  Whitfield, 
whom  he  had  already  recommended.  Yet  an  ad- 
ditional burthen  was  imposed  upon  him,  when  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  on  the  5th  of  August  appointed  the 
Most  Rev.  Ambrose  Marechal,  Administrator  of  the 
diocese  of  Philadelphia.  But  his  career  was  near  its 
close. 

On  the  12tli  of  December  he  received  the  holy  viati- 
cum in  the  presence  of  his  clergy,  and  from  that  day 
his  health  sank  rapidly.  On  the  8th  of  January  the 
Rev.  James  Whitfield  was  elected  Bishop  of  Apol- 
lonia,  and  Coadjutor  to  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 
but  the  bulls  did  not  arrive  in  the  lifetime  of  Dr. 
Marechal.  After  being  fortified  with  all  the  sacra- 
ments of  the  dying,  he  expired  without  agonj^  or 
struggle  near  midnight  on  the  29th  of  January,  1828.^ 

A  well-trained  theologian,  versed  in  philosophy, 
mathematics,  history  and  general  literature,  he  came 
from  scholarly  retirement  to  his  position  to  display 
the  greatest  activity,  earnestness,  and  energy.  His 
whole  life  was  bound  up  in  his  diocese  and  his  duties, 
and  if  he  did  not  accomplish  all  he  proposed,  it  was 
never  due    to  indifference  in  the   discharge  of  his 

'  Archbishop  Marechal  in  a  letter  to  Cardinal  Cappellari,  Oct.  1,  1827, 
proposed  Rev.  Mr.  Whitfield  as  qualified  by  his  theological  learning,  his 
sound  judgment  and  eloquence  and  ten  years'  service  in  the  diocese.  The 
diocese  of  Baltimore  in  1827  contained  62  priests,  25  Americans,  12  Irish, 
11  French,  5  Belgians,  2  Germans,  2  Italians,  1  Pole,  1  Mexican,  1  Bava- 
rian, 1  English. 

«  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  June  9,  Sept.  15,  Oct.  6,  13,  1827. 


DEATH  OF  ARCHBISHOP  MARECHAL.  99 

functions,  but  to    circumstances  that   prevented  Ms 
forming  an  accurate  judgment.^ 

The  attendance  at  his  funeral  rites  showed  how 
highly  he  was  esteemed.  The  venerable  Charles 
Carroll  of  CarroUton  followed  the  clergy  as  chief 
mourner,  and  then  came  a  long  line  of  societies  and 
confraternities.  After  the  solemn  mass  of  requiem 
and  the  burial  service  prescribed  for  archbishops, 
he  was  laid  in  the  vault  where  he  had  de^^osited  the 
remains  of  Archbishop  Carroll.^ 


'  Tessier,  "  fipoques  du  Seminairc  ";  Truth  Teller,  v.,  399;  Baltimore 
American,  cited  in  full  in  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  Feb.  9,  1828. 

2  Id.,  Feb.  16,  1828  ;  Truth  Teller,  iv..  p.  43. 


CHAPTER  Y. 
DIOCESES  OF  BALTIMORE  AND  RICHMOND. 

MOST  KEV.    JAMES    WHITFIELD,   D.D.,   FOURTH  ARCHBISHOP    OF 
BALTIMORE. 

By  the  unexpected  demise  of  Archbishop  Marechal, 
the  Rev,  James  Whitfield  of  St.  Sulpice,  who  had 
been  apjDointed  Bishop  of  Apollonia  and  Coadjutor 
with  tlie  right  of  succession,  became  by  special  bull 
Archbishop  elect  of  Baltimore.  He  was  a  native  of 
Liverpool,  England,  born  November  3,  1770.  While 
traveling  on  the  continent  with  his  widowed  mother, 
he  was  detained  in  France  virtually  a  prisoner,  in  con- 
sequence of  one  of  Napoleon's  arbitrary  decrees.  At 
Lyons  he  became  acquainted  with  Rev.  Ambrose 
Marechal,  then  professor  of  theology  in  the  Seminary, 
and  a  warm  friendship  was  formed.  Renouncing 
mercantile  life,  in  which  he  had  been  engaged, 
young  Whitfield  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  the 
service  of  the  altar.  After  a  thorough  course  of  study 
he  was  ordained  in  1809,  Bishop  William  Gibson,  vicar 
apostolic  of  the  Northern  District  in  England,  author- 
izing his  promotion  to  holy  orders.^  On  his  mother's 
death  he  returned  to  England  in  1811,  and  was 
stationed  by  Bishop  Gibson  at  Netherton,  Great 
Crosby,  where  a  church  had  existed  from  1793.  Here 
he  labored  zealously  till  Dr.  Marechal,  who  had  be- 
come Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  urged  him  to  come  to 
America.     He  arrived  at  Baltimore  on  the  8th  of  Sep- 

'  Authorization,  Durham,  April  29,  1809. 

100 


MOST  REV.    JAMES   WHITFIEI-D,    D.D.,    FOURTH    ARCHBISHOP   OF 
BALTIMORE. 


102 


CONSECRATION.  103 

tember,  1817,  and  was  appointed  one  of  the  clergy  of 
the  Cathedral.  Here  he  won  universal  esteem,  and  on 
the  24th  of  March,  1828,  the  bulls  of  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  appointing  him  Coadjutor  to  Archbishop 
Marechal,  or  successor  in  case  of  death,  reached  Bal- 
timore. 

The  ceremony  of  his  consecration  as  Archbishop  of 
Baltimore,  on  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  May  25,  was 
solemn  and  imposing.  Bishop  Flaget  of  Bardstown, 
the  venerable  dean  of  the  hierarchy,  was  the  conse- 
crator,  assisted  by  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Conwell,  Bishop  of 
Philadelphia,  and  Rt.  Rev,  John  Du  Bois,  Bishop  of 
New  York.  A  number  of  seminarians  and  twenty-two 
clergymen,  among  them  Rev,  Francis  Neale,  S.  J.,  the 

SIGNATURE   OF   ARCHBISHOP   WHITFIELD. 

oldest  priest  in  the  United  States,  preceded  the  Arch- 
bishop elect  and  the  consecrating  prelates.  The 
solemn  rite  was  carried  out  in  strict  conformity  to 
the  Roman  Ritual,  and  the  sermon  was  delivered  by 
Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  then  Vice-President  of  St. 
Mary's  College.^ 

The  Archbishop-elect,  specially  authorized  to  per- 
form all  his  functions  before  receiving  the  pallium, 
entered  at  once  on  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  His 
administration  opened  with  a  happy  omen  in  the 
action  of  Congress,  which  soon  after  incorporated  the 
Visitation  Convent,  Georgetown,  and  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  His  first  con- 
firmation was  in  the  Cathedral  on  the  day  after  his 

'  Tessier,  "  :6poques  du  Seminaire  ";  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  vii.,  p. 
382,  June  7,  1828. 


104       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

consecration,  followed  up  by  the  conferring  of  the 
sacrament  in  other  city  churches  ;  and,  after  the  sum- 
mer heats,  he  began  his  first  visitation  in  September. 
He  took  his  route  through  Frederick,  Liberty,  where 
Father  McElroy  had  nearly  completed  a  new  church, 
Carroll's  Manor;  on  the  5th  of  October  he  dedicated 
the  newly  erected  church  at  Hagerstown,  a  large,  ele- 
gant structure.  Crossing  the  Potomac,  he  visited 
Martinsburg,  and  Richmond  which  he  had  already 
supplied  with  a  new  missionary,  Rev.  Mr.  Hoerner,  the 
former  pastor  having  returned  to  Ireland.  About  the 
same  time  he  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  Orphan 
Asylum  in  Baltimore,  and  saw  a  new  free  school,  capa- 
ble of  holding  three  hundred  jDupils,  oj^ened  in  that 
city,  on  land  j^urchased  for  the  purpose.^ 

The  country  was  at  the  time  excited  over  a  Presi- 
dential election.  The  friends  of  John  Quincy  Adams, 
by  putting  some  Catholics  on  the  local  tickets,  en- 
deavored to  win  the  adherents  of  the  Church  in  Mary- 
land to  his  sui)port ;  but  the  bitter  and  violent  denun- 
ciations of  the  Catholic  Church,  its  clergy,  religious, 
and  laity,  which  p'ullulated  in  almost  everything 
written  by  Mr.  Adams,  called  forth  "An  Address  to 
the  Catholic  Voters  of  Baltimore,"  signed  by  William 
Jenkins,  William  George  Read,  T.  Parkin  Scott,  and 
others.^  The  scheme  failed,  and  the  anti-Catholic 
bias  of  Mr.  Adams  was  one  of  the  elements  which 
contributed  to  his  defeat. 

The  holding  of  a  Provincial  Council  in  the  United 
States  had  been  an  object  of  solicitude  from  the  days 
of  Archbishop  Carroll,  who  long  entertained  the  hojDe 

1  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  Sept,  20,  Nov.  15,  1828.  Jaa.  3,  1829; 
Truth  Teller,  iv.,  p.  343. 

■'  Baltimore  :  Lucas  &  Deaver,  1828. 


CONDITION  OF  DIOCESE.  105 

of  holding  one.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  the  United 
States,  Bishop  England  urged  Archbishop  Marechal  to 
take  the  necessary  steps  for  convening  such  an  assem- 
bly. There  were  difficulties  at  first,  but  as  these  were 
removed,  the  Archbishop  proposed  the  matter  to  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff.  Pius  VII.,  and  his  successor,  Leo 
XII.,  approved  the  project.  Archbishop  Marechal 
accordingly  drew  up  a  scheme  of  the  work  to  be  accom- 
plished, but  died  before  he  could  perfect  it.  Arch- 
bishop Whitfield  submitted  this  plan  to  Pope  Pius 
VIII. ,  who  gave  it  his  full  approval.^  AVhen  the  neces- 
sary authorization  arrived,  letters  were  issued  con- 
voking the  first  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore,  to  be 
held  on  the  first  day  of  October,  1829.  Not  only  were 
the  suffragans  of  Baltimore  invited,  but  also  the  other 
Bishops  in  the  United  States,  Bishop  Rosati  of  St. 
Louis,  Administrator  of  the  diocese  of  New  Orleans, 
and  Bishop  Portier  from  Mobile,  representing  the 
ancient  diocese  of  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas. 

When  the  first  Council  of  Baltimore  convened,  Arch- 
bishop Whitfield  had,  in  Maryland,  sixty  to  eighty 
thousand  Catholics  out  of  a  general  population  of 
407,000  ;  and  six  or  seven  thousand  Catholics  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  where  the  whole  population  was 
estimated  at  33,000.  There  were  52  priests  in  the  dio- 
cese to  minister  to  them.  Baltimore  had  its  Cathe- 
dral, with  St.  Peter's,  St.  John's,  St.  Patrick's,  and 
St.  Mary's  churches,  and  a  chapel  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity.  There  were  three  churches  in  Washington, 
and  a  church  in  Georgetown,  Alexandria,  Frederick- 
town,  Taney  town,  Emmitsburg,  and  Hagerstown,  wdth 
resident  pastors,  who  attended  smaller  churches  and 
chapels,  and  several  in  St.  Mary's  and  the  neighboring 


'  Artaud,  Histoire  du  Pape  Pie  VIII.     Brussels,  1844,  p.  116. 


106       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

counties,  attended  by  Jesuit  Fathers  from  their  resi- 
dences ;  churches  in  Harford  and  Talbot  counties. 
The  Jesuits  had  their  line  college  at  Georgetown, 
Father  J.  W.  Beschter  being  President,  with  an  in- 
creasing number  of  pupils,  and  a  scholasticate,  where 
the  young  members  of  the  Society  made  their  ecclesi- 
astical studies  ;  St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  and 
the  theological  seminary  conducted  by  the  priests  of 
St.  Sulpice ;  Mount  St.  Mary's  College  and  Seminary 
at  Emmitsburg ;  there  were  also  fervent  convents  of 
Visitation  and  Carmelite  nuns,  and  the  Motherhouse 
of  the  Sisters  of  Charity  at  Emmitsburg,  with  Sisters 
laboring  in  Baltimore  and  Washington,  their  commu- 
nity numbering  in  all  120. 

The  diocese  of  Richmond,  of  which  he  was  Admin- 
istrator, was  far  less  prosperous.  Richmond  had  a 
wretched  wooden  church,  with  a  petty  congregation, 
too  poor  to  erect  a  better  edifice  ;  Norfolk  was  more 
prosperous  ;  it  had  a  decent  church,  with  two  priests, 
who  attended  also  the  Catholics  of  Portsmouth,  The 
Catholic  population  of  the  two  cities  was  estimated  at 
six  hundred.  Martinsburg  and  Wheeling  were  also 
stations  regularly  visited  :  but  there  were  no  Catholic 
institutions  of  any  kind  in  the  State.^ 

We  shall  now  trace  the  history  of  the  suffragan 
dioceses,  and  show  their  condition  at  this  time. 

'  Archbishop  Whitfield.  June  27,  1829,  Jan.  28,  1830,  "  Annales  de  la 
Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  iv.,  pp.  233-246. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DIOCESE  OF  BOSTON. 

RT.   REV.   JOHN  CHEVERUS,   FIRST  BISHOP   OF  BOSTON,    1810-1823. 

Yielding  to  the  rex)eated  petitions  of  Bishop  Car- 
roll, the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  Pope  Pius  VII.,  on  the 
8th  of  April,  1808,  by  liis  Bull  "Ex  debito  Pastoralis 
Officii,"  divided  the  diocese  of  Baltimore,  which  had 
embraced  all  the  United  States  territory  east  of  the 
Mississippi.  At  the  same  time  he  erected  the  diocese 
of  Boston,  embracing  all  the  New  England  States,  and 
elected  as  Bishop  of  the  new  See,  the  Rev.  John  Lefe- 
bvre  Cheverus,  who  had  for  twelve  years  been  a  zeal- 
ous missionary  in  that  portion  of  the  country. 

Born  at  Mayenne,  the  capital  of  Lower  Maine, 
France,  January  28,  1768.  Trained  by  a  pious 
mother,  he  chose  the  ecclesiastical  state,  and  made  a 
thorough  course  of  study  at  the  College  of  Mayenne, 
and  that  of  Louis-le-Grand  at  Paris.  He  then  by 
public  competition  obtained  entrance  to  the  Seminary 
of  St.  Magloire.  The  Bishop  of  Mans,  in  view  of 
the  increasing  difficulties  Avliich  menaced  religion  in 
France,  obtained  a  dispensation,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Cheve- 
rus was  ordained  priest  at  the  last  public  ordination 
in  Paris,  December  18,  1790.  He  immediately  began 
the  exercise  of  the  ministry  as  curate  at  Mayenne, 
honored  by  his  Bishop  with  the  title  of  canon.  But 
on  refusing  to  take  schismatical  oaths  he  was  the  next 
year  driven  from  his  church,  and  could  officiate  only 
in  his  father's  house.  On  his  appointment  as  parish 
priest  and  vicar  general  in  1791,  he  was  compelled 
to  leave  Mayenne.  After  constant  surveillance  and 
occasional  imprisonment,  he  resolved  to  leave  France. 

107 


108       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

He  was  in  Paris,  and  actually  passing  the  old  Carmel- 
ite Convent,  when  so  many  noble  priests  were  butch- 
ered there.  Reaching  England  in  September,  1792,  he 
began  to  learn  English,  and  exercise  the  ministry,  till 
his  friend.  Rev.  Dr.  Matignon,  in  1795,  urged  him  to 
come  to  Boston.  Yielding  to  the  invitation,  he 
landed  in  that  city,  October  3,  1796. 

Catholicity  was  a  plant  of  recent  growth  in  New 
England.  The  first  priest  was  empowered  only  in 
1788  to  officiate  in  Boston,  and  gather  the  few  Catho- 
lics there  into  a  congregation.  The  first  Baptismal 
Register  was  opened  by  the  Abbe  de  la  Poterie,  April 
11,  1789.  There  was  little,  however,  done  by  that 
priest  or  Rev.  Louis  Rousselot.  The  next  year  we  see 
Rev.  John  Thayer  attending  the  Catholic  poor  in  the 
Almshouse ;  in  1791,  exercising  the  ministry  from 
Salem  at  the  north  to  Newport  in  the  south.  The 
zealous  Dr.  Matignon  visited  far  and  wide  ;  at  Ports- 
mouth he  called  back  to  the  faith  negligent  Catho- 
lics settled  there  ;  Newburyport,  Dedham,  Wrentham 
w^ere  also  visited.  When  Rev.  Mr.  Cheverus  was 
received  into  the  diocese  by  Bishop  Carroll  he  has- 
tened to  the  Indians  in  Maine,  who  earnestly  solic- 
ited a  priest,  and  we  trace  his  ministry  in  1797-8  not 
only  at  the  Indian  town  of  Pleasant  Point,  but  at 
Portsmouth  and  Bedford,  New  Hampshire  ;  at  New- 
buryport, Salem,  Plymouth,  Scituate,  and  Carver, 
Massachusetts,  while  Rev.  John  Thayer  reappears  in 
1798,  officiating  at  Newj^ort.  Maine  was  traversed  by 
Cheverus,  who  said  mass  and  administered  the  sacra- 
ments at  the  Indian  towns,  at  Maduncook  and  Copse- 
cook,  Nobleborough,  Bristol,  Portland,  and  at  towns 
in  New  Hampshire.^ 

'  Parish  Registers,  Boston  Cathedral. 


CONSECRATION.  109 

Learned,  zealous,  prudent  Bishop  Cheverus  was 
already  endeared  to  the  Catholics  over  whom  he  was 
to  rule,  and  by  his  amiable  and  gentle  qualities,  as 
well  as  by  his  devotion  to  his  priestly  duties,  he  had 
conquered  the  esteem  and  respect  of  the  Protestant 
community  amid  which  he  had  labored.  Owing  to 
the  troubles  which  environed  the  Holy  See,  and  the 
difficulty  of  communication,  the  bulls  erecting  the  See 
of  Boston  did  not  reach  Baltimore  for  more  than  two 
years,  two  sets  having  miscarried/ 

Bishop  Cheverus  was  consecrated  by  Archbishop 
Carroll,  assisted  by  Rt.  Rev.  Leonard  Neale,  Bishoj) 
of  Gortyma,  and  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Egan,  O.  S.  F., 
Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  as  assistants.  The  ceremony 
took  place  in  St.  Peters  pro-cathedral,  Baltimore,  on 
the  feast  of  All  Saints,  1810,  the  sermon  on  the  oc- 
casion being  delivered  by  the  Rev.  Father  William 
Vincent  Harold,  O.  S.  D.^ 

A  few  days  after,  the  Bishop  of  Boston  preached  at 
the  consecration  of  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  J.  Flaget,  Bishop 
of  Bardstown.  Then,  after  joining  with  his  Metropol- 
itan and  fellow  suffragan  bishops  in  drawing  rules  of 
discipline,  required  by  the  condition  of  their  flocks, 
and  issuing  a  pastoral  letter  in  the  name  of  all,  Bishop 
Cheverus  returned  to  the  scene  of  his  future  labors. 

When  the  diocese  of  Boston  was  created,  and  the 
Rev.  John  Cheverus  made  its  first  Bishop,  it  embraced 
JS'ew  Hampshire    and  Vermont,   Massachusetts  then 

'  Pius  VII.,  "  Ex  debito  Pastoralis  Officii,"  April  8,  1808.  Bullarium 
Romanum,  xiii.,  p.  282  ;  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  iv.,  p.  339. 

'  Harold,  "  Sermon  preached  in  the  Cathedral  Church  of  St.  Peter, 
Baltimore,  November  1,  1810,  on  occasion  of  the  consecration  of  the  Ht. 
Rev.  Dr.  John  Cheverus,  Bishop  of  Boston,"  Baltimore,  1810.  See  Rt. 
Rev.  John  Cheverus  to  Thomas  Walley,  Sept.  24,  1810,  inFinotti,  Biblio- 
graphia  Catholica,  p.  40. 


110       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

including  the  District  of  Maine,  Rhode  Island,  and 
Connecticut.  Vast  as  the  territory  was,  and  zealously 
as  Rev.  Messrs.  Thayer,  Matignon,  and  Cheverus  had 
labored  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  faithful,  the  poverty 
of  priests  and  scattered  Catholics  was  such  that  little 
material  progress  appeared.  In  the  whole  diocese 
there  were  but  three  churches,  that  of  Holy  Cross, 
Boston,  which  Bishop  Cheverus  made  his  Cathedral, 
and  which  he  attended  with  Dr.  Matignon ;  St. 
Patrick's  at  Newcastle,  Maine,  "the  work  of  Irish 
piety,"  which  he  had  dedicated  July  17,  1808  ;  and 
a  log  chapel  at  the  Indian  village  of  Pleasant  Point, 
attended  by  the  Rev.  James  Romagne,  missionary 
of  the  Penobscot  and  Passamaquoddy  Indians,  who 
made  his  winter  quarters  at  the  church  in  Newcastle. 
The  Catholics  scattered  throughout  the  diocese  de- 
pended entirely  on  the  occasional  visits  of  the 
Bishop  and  Dr.  Matignon,  with  the  assistance  at 
times  of  Rev.  Mr.  Romagne.  The  Catholics  of  Boston 
at  this  time  were  reckoned  at  720  souls,  there  being, 
in  1810,  93  baptisms,  17  marriages,  and  18  deaths. 

Not  long  before  he  set  out  for  Baltimore,  Dr. 
Cheverus  had  the  consolation  of  receiving  into  the 
church,  Stephen  Cleveland  Blythe  and  his  family,  the 
convert  finding  in  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church 
the  peace  which  he  had  vainly  sought  in  the  Congre- 
gationalism implanted  in  him  in  childhood,  or  in 
other  sects  to  which  he  turned  for  light  and  strength. 
Dr.  Blythe  at  this  time  resided  in  Charlestown  in  order 
to  be  near  a  Catholic  place  of  worship.  He  made  his 
first  communion  with  his  family  in  the  Church  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  Boston,  on  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  1809.^ 


'  Blythe,  "  An  Apology  for  the   Conversion  of    Stephen  Cleveland 
Blythe,"  etc.,  New  York,  1815,  p.  19. 


CHURCH  IN  MAINE.  HI 

The  Catholic  body  in  New  England  hailed  with 
delight  their  beloved  priest  returning  with  the  episco- 
pal dignity  conferred  upon  him.  Bishop  Cheverus 
celebrated  pontitically  in  his  Cathedral  the  great 
feast  of  Christmas,  once  so  odious  to  the  people  of 
New  England,  and  in  spring  that  of  Easter.  He  then 
began  to  visit  the  scattered  congregations.  In  May 
he  confirmed  eight  at  Salem  and  Newburyport,  and 
on  Whitsunday  178  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy 
Cross,  whom  he  had  carefully  instructed.  Then  he 
proceeded  to  the  district  of  Maine,  and  spent  two 
months  ministering  to  the  flock  who  attended  St. 
Patrick's  Church,  Newcastle.  Then  he  resumed  his 
labors  among  the  Indians  at  Pleasant  Point,  Avho 
received  their  old  missionary  with  great  enthusiasm. 
Here  he  confirmed  122,  and  the  next  week  conferred 
the  same  sacrament  on  37  at  Newcastle. 

On  his  return  to  Boston  he  felt  elated  one  Sunday 
to  see  his  sanctuary  filled  with  priests  ;  there  being 
present  four  Capuchins  driven  from  Spanish  America 
by  the  revolutions,  and  also  aTrappist,  Father  Eugene, 
the  wandering  community  of  Cistercians  appearing  in 
his  city  the  next  year  in  the  persons  of  three  priests 
who  arrived  from  Bordeaux.^ 

Soon  after  his  return  from  Baltimore,  Bishop  Cheve- 
rus completed  and  issued  an  edition  of  the  New 
Testament  in  French,  which  he  had  carefully  revised. 
It  was  based  on  that  of  Le  Maistre  de  Sacy,  and  ap- 
peared in  two  neat  volumes.  It  was  an  event  in  typo- 
graphical no  less  than  Catholic  annals  that  such  an 
edition  should  have  been  issued  by  a  body  as  poor 


'  Rev.  James  Romagne  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Oct.  8,  1811,  Bishop 
Cheverus  to  same,  Oct.  3,  1811  ;  "Relation  de  ce  qui  est  arrive  a  deux 
Religieuse  de  la  Trappe,"  Paris,  1824,  p.  6  ;  Parish  Register,  Boston. 


112       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

in  numbers  and  in  wealth  as  the  Catholics  of  New 
England.  Bibles  and  Testaments  had  already  been 
Xninted  in  English  for  the  use  of  the  faithful,  and  the 
Epistles  and  Gospels  in  French  and  English  soon 
appeared  at  Detroit.  He  also  x)repared  and  issued  a 
l^rayer  book  entitled  "The  Roman  Catholic  Manual  ; 
or  Collection  of  Prayers,  Anthems,  Hymns,  etc.,"  Bos- 
ton, 1811,  after  endeavoring  in  vain  to  induce  the  Sul- 
pitians  to  draw  up  a  suitable  book.^ 

In  1812  we  trace  the  Bishop  in  his  episcopal  and 
missionary  character  at  Damariscotta  and  Portland 
in  Maine  ;  at  Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire  ;  at  Salem, 
Massachusetts  ;  at  Bristol,  Rhode  Island,  and  the  next 
year  at  Providence,  and  before  long  at  Pawtucket. 

He  was  constantly  on  laborious  missionary  excur- 
sions of  greater  or  less  length,  much  of  the  parochial 
work  at  Boston  necessarily  devolving  on  Rev.  Dr. 
Matignon.  After  these  necessary  visitations,  Bishop 
Cheverus  resumed  his  life  in  his  contracted  domicile 
in  Boston.  A  single  apartment  was  his  sleeping  and 
reception  room,  or,  as  he  called  it  pleasantly,  his 
"episcopal  palace,  open  to  all  the  world."  His  bed- 
stead and  a  few  plain  chairs  constituted  the  furniture, 
the  former  serving  as  a  seat  when  visitors  were  many. 
His  dress  and  his  table  were  equally  plain  ;  with  no 
attendant,  he  split  his  own  firewood.  Yet  he  was 
assiduous  in  the  confessional,  in  catechizing,  and  in 
visiting  the  sick.  To  these  he  was  not  merely  a 
priest,  but  a  kind  and  sympathetic  friend.  By  day 
or  by  night  he  would  go  miles  to  give  consolation  to 
the  afflicted,  secret  aid  to  the  suffering  poor,  concord 
to  families  rent  by  dissension.     Milbert  the  traveler, 

'  Finotti,  "  Bibliographia  Catholica  Americana,"  pp.  39-43,  191. 
O'Callaghan,  "  List  of  Editions  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,"  Albany,  1861, 
p.  102. 


CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

alth  as  the  Catholics  of  ISew 
'      lid  Testamt'iits  had  already  boeii 
■-'r  ihe  us(:;  of  the  faithful,  and  the 
in    French  and  English  soon 
;.     He  also  prepared  and  issued  a 
'  d  "The  K.oman  Cathoiic  Manual  ; 
yers,  Anthems,  Hymns,  etc.,"  Bos 
i-avoring  in  vain  to  induce  the  SuJ- 
.j^  a  suitable  book.* 
race  the  Bishop  in  his  episcopal  and 
racter  at  Damarisr  id   Portland 

ortsmonth,  New  H.:  '  "^^dptn, 

at  Bristol,  Rhodt  >:t 

and  before  long  at  jpawii. 
'    ou  laborious  missionai\   •  v  *.- 
ler.prth,  much  of  the  parochial 
[evolving  on  Rev.   Dr. 
ary  visitations,  Bishop 
iiis  contracted  domicile 
inent  was  his  sleeping  and 
,  as   lie   called  it  pleasai    ' 
open  to  all  the  world" 
.  plain  eclairs  constituted  t\ 
\  ing  as  a  seat  when 
ins  table  were  equ;:. 
^plit  liis  own  firewoc 
e  cc/ufessional,  in  '  >«Md  iii 

^       '^''^  these  he   v  .>  .nr  n 

i  sympathetic 
'id  go  miles  to 

aid  to  the  suf  --i,  ^Z  ^.o  c. 

'  (Mssension.      ■'■»;  hf»  tr^veh^r, 

Catholica   Amcrictiii. 
'    I  aious  of  the  Holy  Scriptut"*;.  ''■ 


''^y 


RIGHT   REV  JOHN    CHEVERUS, 

BISHOP    OF    BOSTON. 


HIS  CHARITY.  113 

struck  down  by  yellow  fever,  found  Bishop  Cheverus 
ministering  to  him  with  all  the  affection  of  a  brother.^ 
A  sailor  leaving  port  commended  his  wife  to  the  Bish- 
op's charity.  Sickness  and  want  came.  Dr.  Cheve- 
rus attended  her  constantly,  and  the  sailor  return- 
ing met  the  Bishop  carrying  wood  upstairs  to  light  a 
lire  in  order  to  j)repare  remedies  she  required.  Find- 
ing a  sick  negro  deserted  in  a  wretched  shed,  the 
Bishop  attended  him  constantly  till  his  servant  fol- 
lowed him  and  discovered  his  secret.  He  once  sent 
some  wood  to  a  i^oor  sick  woman,  but  on  visiting  her 
again  a  day  or  two  afterward,  beheld  the  wood  lying 
untouched  on  the  street.  Surprised  at  this  neglect 
on  the  part  of  her  neighbors,  he  went  for  his  buck 
and  saw,  then  set  to  work  on  it.  A  man,  attracted  by 
the  noise,  came  out,  and  seeing  the  Bishop  wished  to 
do  the  work  himself.  "No!"  said  the  Bishop,  "I 
never  permit  any  one  to  interfere  in  my  work.  This 
wood  has  been  here  some  time,  and,  as  no  one  put  a 
hand  to  it,  I  set  to  work  lest  it  should  be  said  that 
there  Avas  not  one  Catholic  in  our  flock  to  do  a  good 
turn  for  a  suffering  Avoman."^ 

The  faith  spread  slowly  in  New  England.  Catho- 
lics, venturing  to  attempt  to  make  homes  there,  gener- 
ally found  themselves  surrounded  by  a  hostile  com- 
munity, which  regarded  them  with  an  evil  eye.  Few 
accordingly  Avere  able  to  settle  down  and  secure  per- 
manent homes.  This  condition  of  affairs  rendered  it 
extremely  difficult  to  build  up  congregations.  But  in 
1813  we  see  some  signs  of  progress.  Bishop  Cheverus 
said  mass  for  the  first  time  in  New  Haven  at  a  house 

'  Milbert,  "  Itineraire  Pittoresque  du  Fleuve  d'Hudson,"  Paris,  pp. 
xiv-xvi. 

*[Hamon],  "  Viedu  Cardinal  de  Clieverus,"  Paris,  1858,  pp.  107-112. 


114       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

on  York  Street,  the  residence  of  a  teacher  of  French 
at  Yale  College/  About  the  same  time  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Matignon  said  mass  in  Providence,  R.  I.,  in  a  small 
wooden  building,  once  used  for  a  school,  that  stood  on 
the  north  side  of  Sheldon  Street;  but  this  primitive 
home  of  Catholic  worship  was  swept  away  in  the  great 
gale  of  1815.2  In  1813,  too,  we  hear  that  Rev.  Dr. 
Matignon,  being  detained  in  Hartford  on  Sundaj^, 
travel  being  forbidden,  preached  in  the  Centre  Church 
at  the  invitation  of  the  minister,  Rev.  Dr.  Strong.^ 

The  "  Te  Deums  "  that  resounded  throughout  the 
world  in  1814,  on  the  deliverance  of  the  Sovereign  Pon- 
tiff, were  an  omen  of  better  times.  In  July,  Bishop 
Cheverus  could  write  of  the  reception  into  the  church 
of  Mr.  Thomas  Walley  of  Brookline.  He  was  a  man 
of  extensive  reading  and  very  acute  judgment;  his  wife 
an  amiable  and  pious  Catholic  lady  from  Martinique, 
Avho  brought  up  her  children  in  the  faith.  Bislioj) 
Cheverus  had  thus  become  acquainted  with  Mr.  Wal- 
ley, and  esteemed  him  ;  meanwhile  his  own  study 
and  prayer  led  him  to  a  decision,  and  soon  after  his 
eldest  daughter  made  her  first  communion  at  Easter, 
1814,  Mr.  Walley  embraced  the  faith,  in  time  to  join 
in  the  Te  Deum  chanted  by  the  Bishop  in  his  Cathe- 
dral, on  the  5th  of  June.* 

In  the  summer  of  the  year  1815  Bishop  Plessis,  who 
was  making  a  visitation  in  New  Brunswick,  and  who 
was  then  to  visit  Boston  and  New  York,  was  requested 

'  Rooney,  "The  Connecticut  Catholic  Year  Book,"  Hartford,  1877, 
p.  70. 

■^  Fitton,  "Sketches  of  the  Estahlishment  of  the  Church  in  Kew 
England,"  Boston,  1872,  p.  221. 

*  "  Centennial  Celebration  of  the  first  Mass  in  Connecticut,"  Hartford, 
1881,  p.  7. 

*  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  July  13,  1814. 


MAINE.  115 

by  Bishop  Clieverus  to  visit  Pleasant  Point,  which  he 
did  on  the  29th  of  August.  He  found  only  motive  for 
praise  in  the  mission  managed  by  Rev.  Mr.  Romagne. 
With  his  companions,  two  Canadian  priests,  the 
Bishop  of  Quebec  then  embarked  for  Boston.  He 
found  the  Bishop  and  Mr.  Matignon  in  a  comfortable 
two-story  house,  with  a  garden,  near  the  Cathedral. 
He  remarks  in  his  journal,  "  These  two  worthy  ecclesi- 
astics by  their  virtue,  their  talents,  their  hospitality, 
and  their  politeness  have  overcome  the  prejudices  of 
Protestants,  and  have  attracted  many  to  their  con- 
gregation, which  is,  on  the  whole,  very  edifying,  and 
these  new  converts  persevere  fervently." 

Bishop  Cheverus,  failing  to  retain  his  brother  of 
Quebec  for  the  next  Sunday,  took  him  to  visit  the 
Walley  family  at  Brookline,  and  Bishop  Plessis  men- 
tions the  beautiful  private  chapel  in  the  house,  where 
mass  was  occasionally  offered  for  the  family  and  the 
neighboring  Catholics.  Here  he  met  Rev.  Mr.  Bro- 
sius,  who  lived  near  Harvard  College  in  a  house  where 
he  had  five  or  six  boys  as  boarding  scholars. 

On  his  way  to  Canada,  after  visiting  New  York,  he 
was  accompanied  by  Rev.  Mr.  Matignon.  At  Burling- 
ton they  found  a  number  of  Catholics,  chiefly  Cana- 
dians, enough  to  form  a  congregation  of  one  hundred 
communicants.  They  besought  the  Bishop  to  send 
them,  from  time  to  time,  a  Canadian  priest;  he  ex- 
plained to  them  that  as  Burlington  was  in  the  diocese 
of  Boston  he  had  no  power  to  do  so,  but  recommended 
them  to  Rev.  Mr.  Matignon,  who  promised  to  visit 
them  on  his  return.  Some  weeks  later,  on  his  way  to 
Boston,  that  clergyman  gave  them  a  mission,  with  great 
fruit.  ^ 

'  Relation  d'un  voyage  auxEtats-Unis,  par  Mgr.  Joseph  Octave  Plessis, 
Ev6que  do  Quebec,  en  1815.    I  am  indebted  for  this  to  the  Abbe  Sasseville. 


116      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

The  widowed  church  of  New  York,  in  1815  appealed 
to  the  charity  of  Bishop  Cheverus,  and  he  proceeded 
in  May  to  that  city,  where  he  dedicated  the  new 
cathedral  and  conferred  confirmation.^  Before  the 
close  of  the  year  came  the  melancholy  tidings  of  the 
death  of  the  i^atriarch  of  the  Church  in  America. 
Bishop  Cheverus  at  once  offered  the  holy  sacrifice  for 
the  repose  of  his  soul,  and  the  priests  then  in  Boston, 
Rev.  Dr.  Matignon,  the  learned  Brosius,  and  the 
devoted  Romagne,  were  equally  mindful  of  the 
lamented  Archbishop.  The  Bishop,  from  the  pulpit, 
proj30sed  the  venerable  prelate,  whose  loss  all  de- 
plored, as  a  pattern  for  his  fiock  and  himself.  Amid 
these  mournful  ceremonies  he  was  summoned  to  New 
York  to  take  part  in  the  installation  of  Bishop  Con- 
nolly.^ He  was  soon  afterwards  called  away  again 
from  his  diocese  to  bear  the  j)allium  to  Archbishop 
Neale,  conferring  it  on  him  at  Georgetown.  During 
the  summer  of  1816  he  made  a  two  months'  mission 
among  the  Catholics  in  Maine. ^  On  the  4th  of  August 
he  baptized,  confirmed,  and  administered  holy  com- 
munion to  Samuel  Bishop,  a  lawyer,  aged  46,  in 
St.  Patrick's  Church,  Newcastle.  Many  Protestants, 
including  several  members  of  the  bar,  attended  the 
services.*  In  this  year  the  Rev.  F.  -  X.  Brosius,  a 
learned  and  amiable  priest,  who  had  come  to  the 
United  States  with  Prince  Gallitzin  in  1791,  returned 
to  Europe.  He  had  done  missionary  service  in  Balti- 
more and  in  Pennsylvania,  where  for  a  time  he  con- 
ducted  an   academy,  but   his   health   failed   and  he 

'  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  May  9,  May  11,  1815. 
*  Same  to  Archbishop  Neale,  Dec.  11,  1815. 
3  Same  to  same,  Oct.  3,  Nov.  5,  1816. 
■•  Same  to  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute,  Oct.  9,  1816. 


THE  URSULINES.  117 

returned  to  Boston  in  1814,  where  he  remained  some 
years.  He  was  a  learned  mathematician,  as  his  pub- 
lished writings  attest.  Though  he  did  not  join  the 
diocese  of  Boston  he  rendered  occasional  service  to 
Bishop  Cheverus,  who  esteemed  him  highly,^ 

On  the  last  day  of  Maj^,  1817,  Bishop  Cheverus 
ordained  Rev.  Dennis  Ryan,  the  first  priest  of  his 
diocese,  and  long  a  laborious  missioner.  The  ordina- 
tion took  place  at  public  mass,  the  Bishop  giving  a 
full  exj^lanation  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  Holy 
Orders.'^ 

During  the  year,  Rev.  Mr.  Matignon  escorted  to 
Three  Rivers  the  two  young  ladies  of  the  Ryan  family 
from  Limerick,  who  came  to  found  the  Ursuline  Con- 
vent projected  by  Rev.  Mr.  Thayer.  There  they 
entered  the  novitiate,  to  form  themselves  to  the  life 
established  by  Saint  Angela  de  Merici.^ 

In  September  Bishoj)  Cheverus  set  out  for  the  Dis- 
trict of  Maine  to  afford  the  consolations  of  religion  to 
the  Catholics  in  that  remote  part  of  the  diocese.  He 
offered  the  holy  sacrifice  every  other  Sunday  in  the 
church  at  Newcastle  :  and  spent  the  interval  at  dif- 
ferent points  in  the  surrounding  country.  He  cele- 
brated mass  on  the  28tli  of  September  at  Hope,  and 

'  Rev.  Mr.  Brosius  published,  "  Reply  of  a  Roman  Catholic  Priest," 
Lancaster,  1796  ;  an  edition  of  Cavallo's  Natural  Philosophy  with  Notes, 
Philadelphia,  1813  ;  "A  new  and  concise  Method  of  finding  the  Lati- 
tude," Cambridge,  1815.  See  Finotti,  Bibliotheca  Catholica,  New  York, 
1872  pp.54,  64.  295  :  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute,  Oct.  9, 1816  : 
Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoirs  to  serve  for  the  future  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory of  the  Diocese  of  Boston." 

«  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute.  March  24,  1817.  Same  to 
Archbishop  Marechal,  April  15,  18,  1817  ;  Register  of  Boston  Cathedral, 
Nov.  5, 1815,  May  31,  1817  ;  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoirs  to  serve,"  etc. 

*  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Marechal.  June  25.  1817. 


118       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  next  day  in  a  x^i'ivate  house,  preaching  in  a 
shed  to  fifty  Catholics  and  more  than  two  hundred 
Protestants. 

Later  in  the  year,  he  set  out  for  Baltimore  by  way 
of  Providence,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia,  joined  at 
the  last  city  by  Bishop  Connolly  "of  New  York.  On 
the  14th  of  December,  1817,  he  consecrated  Archbishop 
Marechal  in  the  Cathedral  at  Baltimore,  assisted  by  the 
Bishop  of  New  York.  To  Bishop  Cheverus  the  city 
was  full  of  pious  associations,  the  memory  of  his  own 
consecration,  the  venerable  father  of  the  American 
hierarchy,  the  cradle  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity.^  He 
returned  by  way  of  Providence  and  Bristol,  where  he 
officiated  for  the  Catholics.  He  had  already,  in  May, 
visited  the  Catholics  emjjloyed  in  the  coal  mines  at 
Bristol.  During  his  stay  a  child  was  brought  to  him 
to  be  baptized,  but  when  the  father  wished  the  name 
Napoleon  given  his  son,  the  stanch  adherent  of  the 
Bourbons  demurred.  The  child  was  finally  christ- 
ened Nicholas.  It  is  worth  noting  that  Bishop  Cheve- 
rus mentions  as  among  those  present  at  the  ceremony, 
the  Protestant  Bishop  Griswold.^ 

The  next  year  (1818)  he  dispatched  to  the  missions 
in  Maine  the  Rev.  Dennis  Ryan,  who,  to  the  joy  of  the 
Catholics  in  that  district,  became  their  permanent 
pastor.  At  Boston  he  had  obtained  the  assistance  of  a 
somewhat  rough  but  earnest  worker  in  the  person  of 
the  Irish  Augustinian,  Father  Philip  Lariscy.  His 
testimonials  were  correct  and  favorable.  He  came 
from  the  British  provinces,  having  labored  three  years 
at  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  and  nearly  a  year  at 
Halifax.     Restless  in  disposition,  he  appears  on  the 

'  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  39  Sept.,  3,  31  Dec,  1817. 
2  Same  to  same,  May,  1817. 


THE  BARBER  FAMILY.  119 

mission  annals  in  other  parts  of  tlie  country.  At  this 
time  he  was  a  man  of  thirty-four,  strong  and  robust, 
and  his  ways  were  as  strange  to  the  gentle  Cheverus 
as  the  Irish  language  in  which  he  thundered,  at  the 
first  mass  on  Sundays,  at  his  countrymen,  many  of 
whom  he  brought  back  to  the  sacraments  after  years 
of  neglect.^ 

Salem,  once  the  rival  of  Boston  in  trade,  had  gath- 
ered a  few  Catholics  whom  Rev.  John  Thayer  visited 
in  his  turn,  and  whom  Bishop  Cheverus  carefully 
attended.  Mass  was  celebrated  every  month  at  the 
house,  of  Mr.  Connolly,  on  Herbert  Street.  There 
were  about  twenty-five  Catholic  families  when  Mr. 
Newport,  returning  from  an  English  prison  at  Dart- 
mouth, began,  in  1815,  to  collect  from  house  to  house 
to  obtain  means  to  erect  a  church.  The  humble  house 
of  God  was  reared  in  1817,  but  remained  for  years 
unfinished  interiorly.^ 

The  conversion  of  the  Barber  family  and  the  subse- 
quent devotion  of  all  its  members  to  the  service  of 
God  at  this  time,  attracted  great  attention.  Rev. 
Daniel  Barber,  a  native  of  Simsbnry,  Connecticut, 
served  as  a  soldier  in  the  State  line  during  the  Revo- 
lution, but  when  i)eace  came  he  revolted,  as  his  father 
had  done  before  him,  against  the  tyranny  of  the 
Congregational  Church,  or  "  Standing  Order,"  as  it 
was  commonly  termed.  Seeing  one  of  that  denomina- 
tion utterly  discomfited  in  argument  by  an  Episco- 
palian, he  sought  refuge  in  the  church  of  the  victorious 
disputant.  There  he  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  the 
ministry,  and  after  a  course  of  study  entered  upon  his 

'  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  June  25,  1818. 

■^  Fitton,  "  Sketches  of  the  Establishment  of  the  Church  in  New 
England,"  p.  156. 


120       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

duties.  In  time,  a  Catliolic  book  tliat  fell  into  liis 
hands  awakened  some  doubts  in  his  mind  as  to  the 
soundness  of  his  j^osition.  He  called,  about  1812,  on 
Bishop  Cheverus,  to  whom  he  proposed  some  of  his 
doubts,  but  whom  he  plied  with  questions  as  to  points 
of  Catholic  doctrine  and  discipline  which  seemed  diffi- 
cult to  accept.  Books  lent  by  Dr.  Cheverus  were  read 
by  him  and  his  family,  and  even  by  some  of  his  flock. 
Toward  the  close  of  1818  he  was  in  a  most  undecided 
position,  when  his  son  Virgil  Horace,  who  had  also 
become  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  and  who  directed  an 
Academy  about  fifteen  miles  ffom  Utica,  in  New  York 
State,  called  on  him,  accompanied  by  Rev.  Charles  D. 
Ffrench,  a  priest  of  the  order  of  St.  Dominic,  and  a 
convert  to  the  faith.  To  his  surprise  he  found  that 
his  son,  harassed  like  himself  by  doubts,  had  sought 
the  Rev.  Benedict  J.  Fenwick  at  New  York,  in  1816, 
and,  renouncing  all  Avorldly  prospects,  had  been  re- 
ceived by  him  into  the  Catholic  Church.  His  wife 
followed  his  example.  Mr.  Barber  opened  an  Academy 
in  New  York,  which  prospered  ;  but  before  long  he  and 
his  wife  resolved,  like  Lord  and  Lady  Warner  in 
England,  to  devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  God : 
he  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  and  she  the  Monastery 
of  the  Visitation  at  Georgetown.  Virgil  H.  Barber 
had  made  his  novitiate  at  Rome,  and  had  now  returned 
to  enter  on  his  theological  studies.  Father  Ffrench 
said  mass  in  the  house  of  the  Episcopal  clergyman,  who 
thereupon  resigned  his  church,  at  Claremont,  N.  H., 
and  prepared  to  yield  obedience  to  the  great  grace 
bestowed  upon  him.  In  a  parting  address  to  the 
congregation  he  manifested  the  motives  for  his  long 
considered  act.  Father  Ffrench  passed  a  week  at 
Claremont,  saying  mass  in  the  "New  Brick  Church," 
and  preaching.     Mrs.  Barber  and  her  daughter,  Mrs. 


DEATH  OF  REV.  DR.  MATIGNON.  121 

Tyler,  a  sister  of  Mr.  Barber,  and  her  eldest  daughter 
openly  professed  the  faith  and  were  received  into  the 
Church.^  In  the  providence  of  God  his  son  was  to 
return  after  a  few  years  to  establish  a  Catholic  church 
in  Claremont,  and  gather  souls  into  the  true  fold. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  1818  the  Bishop  and 
diocese  of  Boston  sustained  an  almost  irremediable 
loss  in  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Francis  A.  Matignon, 
who  expired  on  the  19th  of  December.  The  earliest 
priests  had  done  little  in  Boston,  Rev.  Mr.  Thayer  had 
been  independently  aggressive,  the  real  j)rogress  of  the 
faith  began  with  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Matignon.  Till 
then  "nothing  of  consequence  had  been  effected 
•toward  gathering  and  directing  a  flock."  "With 
meekness  and  humility  he  disarmed  the  proud  ;  Avith 
prudence,  learning,  and  wisdom  he  met  the  cajjtious 
and  slanderous,  and  so  gentle  and  so  just  Avas  his 
course,  that  even  the  censorious  forgot  to  watch  him, 
and  the  malicious  were  too  cunning  to  attack  one 
armed  so  strong  in  honesty.  For  four  years  he  sus- 
tained the  weight  of  this  charge  alone,  until  Provi- 
dence sent  him  a  coadjutor  in  the  person"  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Cheverus.  For  more  than  twentj^  years  they  labored 
in  unison.  Rev.  Francis  A.  Matignon  was  born  in 
Paris,  November  10, 1753,  and  after  taking  his  degree  in 
theology  was  ordained  September  19, 1773.  He  was  for 
several  years  regius  professor  of  divinity  in  the  College 
of  Navarre,  but  Avhen  the  French  revolutionary  per- 
secution of  the  Church  demolished  the  temple  and 
sent  so  many  of  the  devoted  clergy  to  the  scaffold,  he 

'Bishop  Fenwick,  "Memoirs  to  serve  for  the  future  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  the  Diocese  of  Boston."  D.  Barber,  "  History  of  my  own 
Times,"  Washington,  1827,  part  ii.,  pp.  15.  19.  Bishop  De  Goesbriand, 
"  Catholic  Memoirs  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire,"  Burlington,  1886, 
pp.  24-127. 


122       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

withdrew  to  England ;  then  having  resolved  to  labor 
in  America  he  arrived  in  Boston,  August  20,  1792,  to 
labor  there  to  the  end  of  his  days. 

His  death  was  a  severe  blow  to  Bishop  Cheverus.  "  I 
must  be  resigned  to  my  loss,  for  I  am  confident  that  it 
is  the  happiness  of  my  worthy  friend.     He  died  as  he 


jy^auu/f-'/7,  ^<z^i^j 


■t/L>J^ 


had  lived,  a  saint.  He  slept  sweetly  in  the  Lord,  with- 
out a  struggle  and  without  agony,  at  ten  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  December  19.  I  had  given  him  Holy  Com- 
munion at  half -past  five,  as  he  had  received  twice  a 
week  fasting,  after  he  was  unable  to  celebrate  holy 
mass.     He  did  not  seem  to  be  worse,  but  at  eight  o'  clock 


REV.  J.  ROMAGNE.  123 

lie  suddenly  changed.  I  administered  extreme  unc- 
tion ;  he  soon  lost  his  speech,  his  dear  cold  hand  still 
pressed  mine.  He  pressed  his  crucifix  to  his  lips.  At 
half -past  nine  he  seemed  almost  asleep  in  my  arms, 
and  ceased  to  breathe  at  ten.  From  that  moment  I 
have  been  totadie  moerens  et  non  habens  requiem." 

His  body  was  exposed  in  the  church  till  Monday, 
when  he  was  carried  to  the  grave,  followed  by  the 
Bishop  in  pontificals  and  fully  a  thousand  people, 
many  wearing  crape,  the  stores  on  the  route  of  the 
procession  being  generally  closed.  His  eulogy  was 
pronounced  from  Protestant  pulpits  and  in  the  press, 
the  most  touching  article  being  from  the  pen  of  S.  L. 
Kna]3p.^ 

The  diocese  soon  sustained  another  loss.  Rev.  Mr. 
Romagne,  leading  the  life  of  a  hermit  in  poverty  and 
privation  among  the  Penobscots,  had  at  last  found 
that  his  health  was  failing.  He  had  repeatedly  an- 
nounced his  intention  of  returning  to  France,  but  had 
yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  Bishop  Cheverus.  After 
twenty  years'  service  in  the  missions,  he  finally  re- 
signed  and  returned  to    France.^        He   thoroughly 


'  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Oct.  7,  1818.  "Dr.  Matig- 
non  was  placed  temporarily  in  a  vault,  and  three  months  after  was  taken 
to  the  cemetery  and  laid  in  a  vault  fronting  the  principal  entrance  of  St. 
Augustine's  Church.  The  extension  of  the  church  to  the  street,  brought 
his  vault  in  front  of  the  high  altar  and  about  sixteen  feet  from  it.  The 
marble  slab  covering  the  spot  was  set  up  as  a  tablet  on  the  wall  on  the 
epistle  side  opposite  the  sacristy  door." — Bishop  Fenwick,  "Obituary 
notice  of  the  Rev.  Francis  Anthony  Matignon,  D.D.,  late  pastor  of  the 
church  of  the  Holy  Cross,  Boston,"  Boston,  1818.  New  England 
Galaxy,  Sept.  25,  1818. 

Little  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  Matignon  has  been  printed,  but  there  is  in 
the  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  202,  his  reply  to  an  attack  on  the  Catholic  I'eligion,  wiiicli 
appeared  in  1800  in  the  Telegraph. 

*  Greenleaf ,  "Sketches  of  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  State  of 
Maine,"  Portsmouth,  1821,  p.  235. 


124       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

mastered  the  language  of  his  flock,  and  in  1804  pre- 
pared a  jorayer-book,  which  was  printed  in  1834  by 
Bishop  Fenwick,  who  says  of  this  worthy  priest :  ' '  His 
devotedness  to  these  poor  Indians,  the  happy  fruits  of 
his  apostolical  labor,  still  visible,  made  me  deeply 
regret  his  departure,  as  his  experience  would  have 
been  of  the  greatest  service. '"^  He  was  succeeded  for 
a  time  by  Rev.  Stephen  Cailleaux,  who  had  come  from 
the  diocese  of  Bordeaux  to  offer  his  services  to  Bishop 
Cheverus,  volunteering,  if  ordained  by  him,  to  devote 
himself  to  the  Indian  missions.  He  did  not,  how- 
ever, remain  long  at  that  mission  or  in  the  diocese.^ 

The  next  year  Bishop  Cheverus  purchased  a  lot 
adjoining  the  church,  on  which  he  began  to  erect  a 
convent  for  the  Ursuline  nuns,  and  also  a  plot  in  Dor- 
chester street,  for  a  Catholic  cemetery.  This  he  dedi- 
cated December  21,  1818.  In  the  centre,  as  a  mauso- 
leum for  his  friend  Dr.  Matignon,  beside  whom  he 
hoped  to  lie,  he  erected  a  pretty  little  brick  chapel, 
twenty  feet  wide  and  thirty  feet  long.  "It  is,"  he 
writes,  ' '  the  fruit  of  the  zeal  of  good  Father  Lariscy, 
and  I  have  given  the  church  the  name  of  the  founder 
of  his  order,   St,  Augustine."      Father  Lariscy   col- 

'  "  Annales  de la  Propagation  de  laFoi,"  v.,  p.  454,  viii.,  p.  196.  "His- 
tory of  the  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes,"  New  York, 
1854,  p.  157-8.  "  The  Indian  Prayer-book  :  compiled  and  arranged  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Penobscot  and  Passaniaquoddy  Tribes.  Printed  by 
order  of  the  Right  Rev.  B.  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Boston."  Boston:  Printed 
by  H.  L.  Devereux,  1834. 

^  Greenleaf,  p.  335  ;  Maine  Register  for  1820,  p.  14.  Bishop  Cheverus 
to  Archbishop  Matignon,  Jan.  7,  July  6,  1819.  Boston  Cathedral  Reg- 
ister, June  5,  1819.  Rev.  Mr.  Cailleaux  sailed  for  the  West  Indies  in 
1823. 

2  "  1818,  December  21.  The  new  Burying-ground  in  South  Boston 
■was  consecrated  by  me.  John,  Bp.  of  Bu."  Register  of  Boston  Cathe- 
dral. 


REV.  P.  LARISCY.  125 

lected  some  fifteen  liundrecl  dollars  to  meet  the  ex- 
pense of  building  St.  Augustine's  Church,  which,  in- 
tended originall}^  as  a  mortuary  chapel,  became  from 
time  to  time  the  church  for  Catholics,  who  increased 
in  that  neighborhood.  The  growth  of  the  faith  in 
Boston  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  there  were  eight 
hundred  communions  at  Easter  time,  1819.  St.  Aug- 
ustine's was  subsequently  enlarged  by  extending 
the  walls  toward  Dorchester  Street,  and  it  stands  to 
this  day  the  oldest  church  edifice  belonging  to  the 
Catholics  in  Boston.  A  less  pretentious  church,  as- 
cribed to  the  same  Augustinian  Father,  was  a  small 
frame  building  among  the  rocks  at  New  Bedford. 

Father  Lariscy  was  at  this  time  the  main  reliance 
of  Bishop  Cheverus,  who  kept  sealed  in  a  desk  an 
appointment  constituting  the  Augustinian  priest  his 
Vicar  General  to  enable  him  to  act  in  case  of  his  own 
sudden  death  ;  but  the  bustling  Augustinian  soon 
wearied  of  Boston,  and  withdrew  to  New  York  in  the 
summer  of  1821.^ 

The  Rev.  John  Thayer,  after  essaying  mission  work 
in  Boston,  Kentucky,  and  elsewhere,  retired  to  Eng- 
land, and  with  the  consent  of  Archbishop  Carroll 
settled  about  1811  in  Limerick.  In  that  city,  without 
undertaking  any  parochial  work,  he  rendered  great 
services  to  religion.  He  revived  piety  and  led  many 
to  frequent  the  sacraments  and  seek  the  ways  of  Chris- 
tian perfection.  One  great  object  of  his  life  was  to 
establish  a  religious  community  of  women  in  Boston. 


'  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  July  16,  1819,  Aug  17, 
Sept.  26,  1821  ;  Father  T.  C.  Middleton,  O.  S.  A.,  in  A.  C.  Historical 
Researches,  iii.,  pp.  12-18  ;  Fitton,  "  Sketches  of  the  Church  in  New 
England,"  pp.  160,  214;  Milbert,  "  Itineraire  Pittoresque,"  ii.,  p.  120. 
Father  Lariscy,  a  native  of  Tipperary,  Ireland,  died  in  Philadelphia, 
April  6,  1824,  aged  about  forty^. 


126        THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

For  this  he  saved  and  collected  means,  slowly  and 
gradually.  After  applying  in  vain  to  convents  in 
London  and  Dublin  he  resolved  to  prepare  candidates 
himself.  Among  the  pious  families  in  Limerick  that 
listened  to  his  counsels  and  admired  his  zeal  was  that 
of  James  Ryan.  Two  of  his  daughters,  Mary  and 
Catharine,  who  had  been  educated  by  the  Ursulines  of 
Thurles,  entered  warmly  into  Rev.  Mr.  Thayer's  j)lans, 
and  offered  to  go  to  America  to  begin  the  work.  Cor- 
respondence was  opened  with  Bishop  Cheverus  and 
Dr.  Matignon,  and  it  was  arranged  that  they  should 
proceed  to  Boston,  Bishop  Cheverus  having  arranged 
with  the  Ursulines  of  Three  Rivers  to  receive  them 
and  permit  them  to  make  their  novitiate  there.  Be- 
fore the  brave  young  ladies  could  sail,  the  health  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Thayer  began  to  decline,  and  he  died  at  Mr. 
Ryan's  house  of  dropsy  on  the  5th  of  February,  1815, 
attended  to  the  last  by  his  devoted  daughters  in 
Christ. 

By  his  will,  Rev.  John  Thayer  left  to  Dr.  Matignon 
the  means  he  had  acquired  to  be  used  in  establishing 
the  convent.  Mary  and  Catharine  Ryan,  true  to  their 
vocation,  sailed  from  Limerick  for  Boston  on  the  ship 
Victory,  May  4,  1817.  "No  father  ever  received  or 
welcomed  children  with  more  paternal  affection  than 
the  tw^o  holy  seers.  Dr.  Matignon  accomx)anied  them 
from  Boston  to  Three  Rivers,  and  at  the  expiration  of 
their  novitiate  went  to  their  profession  and  conveyed 
them  back  to  their  destination  at  Boston."  ^ 

Meanwhile  the  legacy  of  Rev.  Mr.  Thayer  had  been 
well  invested  and  enabled  Bishop  Cheverus  to  pur- 
chase a  house  near  his  own.  It  was  unfortunately  too 
contracted  and  ill-suited  for  the  purpose.     Here  the 

'  Letter  of  Mother  M.  Joseph  U.  Quirk  to  J.  G.  Slica,  Sligo,  Dec.  31, 
1855. 


URSULINES. 


127 


two  Ursulines  were  installed.  Margaret  Ryan  and 
Catharine  Ryan  soon  joined  them  from  Ireland,  and 
two  applied  from  Boston  for  admission  as  lay  Sisters. 
The  two  who  came  from  Ireland  made  their  solemn 
vows  on  St.  Ursula's  day,  1820,  in  the  Cathedral,  which 
was  crowded,  Bishop  Cheverus  preaching  from  the 
text:  ''As  dying  and  behold  we  live,"  II.  Cor.  vi.,  9. 
Their  academy  was  then  attended  by  more  than  a 
hundred  girls,  half  in  the  morning,  and  half  in  the 
afternoon.  All  were  day  scholars,  there  being  no 
accommodation  for  boarders.  Thus  the  pious  wish  of 
the  famous  American  convert  was  carried  out,  and 
Boston  possessed  a  community  of  Ursuline  Nuns  en- 
gaged in  the  holy  cause  of  education. 

Catholicity  was  prospering.  There  had  been  more 
than  700  communions  at  Easter  in  Boston,  and  a  large 
class  was  preparing  for  first  communion.  The  zealous 
Father  Lariscy  attended  a  Catholic  Irishman  and  some 
pirates  under  sentence  of  death,  with  consoling  re- 
sults.^ Rev.  Paul  McQuade  visited  Salem  once  a 
month,  and  the  Rev.  Patrick  Byrne  was  ordained  on 
Passion  Sunday.  These  with  two  priests  in  the  mis- 
sion comprised  the  whole  clergy  of  Boston  diocese. 
"  I  have  all  the  priests  I  can  employ,"  he  wrote,  "  and 
perhaps  a  little  more  than  our  means  permit." 

Catholics  began  to  experience  a  little  relaxation  of 
the  old  oppressive  laws.  "Catholics,  hitherto  ex- 
cluded from  office  in  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  are 
now  eligible  as  well  as  Jews,  Mohammedans,  etc."  ^ 

'  Father  Lariscy's  Boston  entries  extend  from  Nov.  1, 1817,  to  July  21, 

1821. 

2  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute,  March  23,  1816  ;  April  14. 
Dec.  19,  1820.  The  Catholics  in  Boston  in  1820  were  estimated  at  2120. 
Baptisms  112,  marriages  44,  deaths  17  ;  in  the  diocese,  baptisms  207, 
marriages  47,  deaths  53.  In  1821  the  Catholics  in  Maine  were  estimated 
at  from  330  to  1000.— Greenleaf. 


128       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

In  1821  the  Rev.  William  Taylor,  a  brilliant  and 
able  priest  who  had  been  on  the  mission  in  New 
York,  arrived  in  Boston.  Though  Bislio]:*  Cheverus 
could  not  approve  all  his  views  and  ideas,  he  became 
strongly  attached  to  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor,  and  found  him 
of  great  service.  He  accordingly  retained  liim  at 
Boston,  and  Rev.  Mr.  McQuade  proceeded  to  Ver- 
gennes,  Vermont.^  In  December,  1822,  Bishop  Chev- 
erus ordained  the  Rev.  Virgil  H.  Barber,  whom  he 
sent  the  next  year  to  Claremont,  to  build  a  little 
chapel.  "This  mission  gives  hopes,"  Avrote  Bishop 
Cheverus.  "Last  summer  I  found  a  number  of  well 
disposed  persons  there."  ^ 

Catholicity  was  gaining  a  foothold  in  Vermont  and 
New  Hampshire. 

Efforts  had  been  made  to  remove  Bishop  Cheve- 
rus from  Boston.  Archbishop  Neale  had  earnestly 
pressed  him  to  become  his  coadjutor  ;  but  he  steadily 
refused,  and  recommended  Rev.  Ambrose  Marechal. 
"The  Church  of  Boston  has  become  to  me  a  beloved 
spouse,  and  I  have  never  entertained  the  thought  of 
deserting  it,"  he  wrote  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and 
when  again  addressing  him  to  express  his  gratification 
at  the  nomination  of  Rev.  Mr.  Marechal  he  said  : 
"My  heart  was  in  constant  pain,  lest  the  obedience 
which  I  owe  and  always  intend  to  pay  to  Your  Holi- 
ness might  compel  me  to  leave  my  beloved  flock."  ^ 
But  in  1820  his  health  began  to  decline,  and  as  time 
went  on  he  felt  that  he  could  no  longer  discharge  his 

'  Register,  Cathedral,  Boston  ;  Bishop  Fenwick's  Memoirs. 

'^  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Jan.  27,  1823.  Rev.  P. 
McQuade's  entries  in  the  Boston  Register  extend  from  March  12,  1821,  to 
Feb.  21,  1823. 

^Hamon,  "  Vie  du  Cardinal  de  Cheverus,"  pp.  141-153. 


BISHOP  CHEVERUS  DEPARTS.  129 

usual  duties.  Seeing  himself  soon  to  be  incapacita- 
ted, he  began  to  think  of  resigning  and  retiring  to  the 
bosom  of  his  familj^  in  France  to  prepare  for  death. 
The  French  minister  at  Washington,  Hyde  de  Neu- 
viile,  seeing  how  evidently  Bishop  Cheverus  required 
change,  wrote  to  the  King  of  France  and  urged  that 
he  should  be  recalled  and  nominated  to  some  see  in 
his  native  country.  The  idea  pleased  the  King,  and 
was  advocated  by  the  Prince  de  Croy,  chief  almoner 
of  France. 

But  he  continued  his  laborious  round  of  duty. 
Between  April  and  June  we  can  trace  him  officiating 
at  Salem,  jSTewburyport,  Providence,  and  PaAvtucket, 
Hartford  and  New  London.^ 

Early  in  1823  Bishop  Cheverus  received  from 
France  the  official  announcement  of  his  nomination  to 
the  See  of  Montauban  :  but  he  still  clung  to  Boston, 
and  wrote  declining  to  acce^Dt  the  French  bishopric.  A 
memorial  signed  by  222  members  of  his  Hock  was  for- 
Avarded  in  April  to  the  Prince  de  Croy.^  Urgent  let- 
ters, almost  commands  followed,  but  his  health  be- 
came so  critical  that  the  physicians  declared  that  it 
would  be  fatal  to  him  to  pass  another  winter  in  Bos- 
ton, that  only  a  residence  in  a  warmer  climate  could 
prolong  his  life.  On  this  he  yielded  to  the  will  of  the 
King  and  transmitted  to  Rome  his  consent.  His  next 
care  was  to  prepare  everything  for  his  departure, 
which  he  styled  making  his  will.  The  property  which 
he  held  as  Bishop  he  transferred  for  the  benefit  of  his 
successor.  His  private  library,  of  well-selected  works, 
he  gave  to  the  diocese  :  everything  else  he  gave  to  his 

'  Register,  Cathedral,  Boston,  April  13,  June  6,  1823. 

-  "  Life  of  Cardinal  de  Cheverus,  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux,"  trans- 
lated by  Robert  Walsh.    Philadelphia,  1839,  pp.  267-8. 


130       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

clergy  or  the  poor,  resolved  to  leave  Boston  as  lie 
entered  it  twenty-seven  years  before,  carrying  his 
wardrobe  in  the  trunk  he  had  then  brought  with  him. 
He  would  have  left  his  chalice,  cruets  and  cross,  but 
as  they  came  from  his  family  he  was  persuaded  to  take 
them. 

When  it  was  known  that  he  was  really  to  leave 
them  the  Catholics  made  a  touching  address  to  their 
beloved  Bishop  ;  ^  the  secular  journals  extolled  his 
virtue  and  his  devotedness.  On  the  day  of  his  de- 
parture the  vestry  was  filled  at  an  early  hour  in  the 
morning  with  Protestants  and  Catholics  moved  to 
tears  at  the  thought  they  were  never  to  see  him  again. 
It  required  all  his  firmness  to  support  himself  in  bid- 
ding them  farewell.^  A  number  of  vehicles  escorted 
him  for  some  distance  on  the  road  to  New  York.  He 
embarked  from  that  city  on  the  first  of  October  in 
company  with  Rev.  Mr.  Moranville  and  Mr.  Milbert, 
but  after  a,  rough  voyage  the  vessel  was  wrecked  on 
the  coast  of  France,  Bishop  Cheverus  and  his  com- 
panions escaping  death  almost  miraculously.^ 

'  The  address  and  the  Bishop's  reply  are  given  by  Walsh,  pp.  269-271. 

*  "The  Life  of  Cardinal  Cheverus,  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux."  Trans- 
lated by  E.  Stewart.  Boston,  1839,  pp.  388-9  ;  Archbishop  Cheverus  to 
Archbishop  Marechal,  March  26,  April  21,  May  9.  1823. 

^  [Hamon]  "Vie  du  Cardinal  de  Cheverus,  Archevgque  de  Bor- 
deaux," Paris,  1856,  p.  167.  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  ii.,  p.  41,  55.  As 
Bishop  of  Montauban  he  won  all  by  his  zeal  and  gentleness,  but  in  1826  he 
was  promoted  to  the  arclnepiscopal  see  of  Bordeaux,  and  soon  after  was 
made  by  Charles  X.  a  peer  of  France.  On  the  1st  of  February,  1836,  he 
was  created  Cardinal.  Thus  had  honors  sought  the  missionary  who 
once  stood  in  the  dock  of  a  criminal  court  at  Wiscasset.  He  died  on 
the  19th  of  July,  1836,  at  the  moment  of  the  Elevation  in  a  mass 
offered  in  his  room.  Besides  his  life  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hamon,  published 
under  the  name  of  Dubourg,  there  was  a  eulogy  on  him  by  the  Abbe 
Gaussens,  which  was  crowned  by  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  Bordeaux. 


HIS  ATTACHMENT  TO  BOSTON.  131 

After  reaching  his  family  home  in  Mayenne, 
Bishop  Cheverus  replying  to  a  letter  of  V.  Rev.  Mr. 
Taylor  said:  "  If  I  were  permitted  I  would  return  to 
dear  Boston.  There  is  still  a  feeble  glimmering  of 
hope  that  I  may  return  to  Boston.  The  Pope's  nun- 
cio, a  venerable  prelate,  wishes  it  much.  It  will  be 
seen,  at  least,  that  if  I  do  not  return,  it  is  no  fault  of 
mine.  I  quitted  Paris  and  left  everything  in  the 
hands  of  the  Nuncio.^ 

On  the  departure  of  Bishop  Cheverus,  notwith- 
standing his  zeal  and  that  of  Doctor  Matignon,  the 
way  had  been  prepared  for  the  Church,  rather  than 
much  accomplished.  Comparatively  few  Catholics 
had  settled  in  New  England,  the  great  emigration 


SIGNATURE   OP   VERY   REV.    WILLIAM   TAYLOR. 

having  scarcely  given  signs  of  what  it  was  to  be. 
Boston  had  its  Cathedral  and  St.  Augustine's  Church  : 
there  were  shrines  of  Catholicity  at  Salem  and  New 
Bedford,  Damariscotta  and  Whitefield  and  Pleasant 
Point  in  Maine.  New  Hampshire  had  its  church  and 
School  at  Claremont.  The  community  at  the  Ursu- 
line  Convent  consisted  of  the  Prioress  and  six  Sisters 
with  two  novices. 


Cardinal  Cheverus  republished  the  Statutes  of  the  diocese  of  Bordeaux, 
but  wrote  nothing  of  any  extent  in  the  United  States.  There  was  a 
very  interesting  sketch  of  Bishop  Cheverus  in  the  Boston  Monthly  Mag- 
azine after  his  departure.  See  New  York  Weekly  Register,  i.,  p.  164  : 
Truth  Teller,  vi.,  p.  109. 

'  Bishop   Cheverus  to    V.    Rev.   W.  Taylor,  Dec.   26,   1833.     U.  S. 
Catholic  Miscellany,  ii.,  p.  173. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

DIOCESE  OF  BOSTON. 
VERY  EEV.  WILLIAM  TAYLOR,  ADMINISTRATOR,  1823-1825. 

The  Yery  Rev.  William  Taylor  was  a  son  of  James 
Taylor,  Esq.,  of  Castle  Martin,  Ireland.  After  liberal 
preparatory  studies,  lie  entered  Trinity  College,  Dublin. 
Having  become  a  Catholic,  however,  and  feeling  called 
to  the  service  of  God,  he  obtained  admission  to  the 
Catholic  Seminary  at  Maynooth.  His  intellectual 
powers  were  great,  and  his  mind  was  stored  with 
sacred  and  profane  learning.  Extremely  affable  and 
winning  in  manner,  he  became  extremely  popular  in 
New  York,  where  he  was  attached  to  St.  Patrick's 
Cathedral.  He  was  soon  esteemed  as  an  eloquent 
pulpit  orator.  He  had  many  literary  projects,  and 
issued,  in  1818,  a  strange  prayer-book,  called  "The 
Christian's  Monitor;  or.  Practical  Guide  to  Future 
Happiness,"  in  which  he  endeavored  to  assimilate 
Catholic  to  Protestant  ideas  and  terms.  He  also  an- 
nounced an  edition  of  the  Douay  Bible. ^  In  Boston 
he  won  the  esteem  and  lasting  regard  of  Bishop 
Cheverus,  who  made  him  Administrator  of  the  diocese 
on  his  depai'ture,  and  recommended  him  to  the  Propa- 
ganda as  his  successor.^  He  remained  in  charge  of  the 
diocese  for  two  years,  managing  its  affairs  with  zeal 
and  prudence.     During  this  time  he  sent  Rev.  Dennis 


'  Truth  Teller,  May  7,  1825,  1826.     U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  viil., 
p.  111. 

^  Cardinal  Somaglia  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  May  15,  1824. 

132 


DR.  GREENE'S  CONVERSION.  133 

Ryan  back  to  Newcastle  to  resume  liis  duties  as  resi- 
dent missionary  in  Maine. 

During  the  administration  of  Rev.  William  Taylor, 
the  growth  of  the  flock  in  Boston  continued  steadily, 
the  baptisms  in  1825  being  385. 

In  November,  1824,  the  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  re- 
ceived into  the  Church  Doctor  Henry  Clarke  Bowen 
Greene,  a  distinguished  physician  of  Saco,  Maine,  with 
whom  he  had  for  some  time  been  in  corresjDondence. 
Dr.  Greene  was  born  at  South  Berwick,  Maine,  April  3, 
1800,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  after  a 
successful  course  in  1819.  Adopting  the  study  of 
medicine  he  was  admitted  to  practice,  and  took  up  his 
residence  at  Saco,  where  he  married.  He  was  a  Con- 
gregationalist,  with  a  leaning  toward  Unitarianism, 
alread}^  common  in  New  England.  During  a  serious 
illness  his  mind  was  so  absorbed  with  the  thought  of  a 
future  state,  that  on  his  recovery  he  seriously  studied 
the  Bible  ;  but  he  fiiiled  to  find  a  definite  constitution 
of  the  Christian  Church  or  a  definite  body  of  doctrine. 
The  multiplicity  of  sects  showed  him  how  unsatisfac- 
tory all  attempts  to  supply  these  had  been,  and  that 
none  of  the  systems  devised  by  men  met  with  general 
acceptation,  and  all  gradually  fell  away  from  the 
original  standards.  His  mind  then  turned  toward  the 
old  church,  which  alone  seemed  to  undergo  no  change. 
While  in  Boston  he  had  heard  Bishop  Cheverus  preach, 
and  felt  the  influence  of  his  life  as  much  as  that  of  his 
words.  He  had  composed  a  poem  on  the  Bishop's 
departure.  He  soon  after  addressed  Very  Rev.  Mr. 
Taylor,  and  a  long  correspondence  with  the  clergy- 
man removed  his  doubts  and  directed  his  reading  till 
Dr.  Greene  was  convinced  and  came  to  Boston,  where 
he  was. happily  received  into  the  Church. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


DIOCESE  OF  BOSTON. 

KT.  EEV.    BENEDICT  JOSEPH  FENWICK,   SECOND  BISHOP  OF  BOS- 
TON, 1825-1829. 

The  choice  of  the  Metropolitan  and  his  suffragans 
for  a  successor  to  Bishop  Cheverus  was  an  American 
priest,  who  had  disphiyed  ability  in  parochial  and 
missionary  work,  in  the  conduct  of  educational  insti- 
tutions, and  who  had,  as  administrator,  governed 
two  dioceses.  New  York  and  Charleston.  This  was 
Father  Benedict  Joseph  Fenwick  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus.     "He  was  born  on  the  3d  of  September,  1782, 


^. 


^    /L?^^^  ^J^  V  '^^ 


SIGNATURE   OF   BISHOP   FENWICK   OF   BOSTON. 

on  his  father's  plantation  at  Beaverdam  manor,  in  St. 
Mary's  County,  Maryland  ;  and  was  lineally  descended 
from  Cuthbert  Fenwick,  one  of  the  proprietors  who 
originally  came  over  from  England  under  the  charter 
of  Lord  Baltimore,"  and  settled  in  the  Land  of  Mary. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  pupils  to  enter  Georgetown 
College,  where  he  made  his  course,  displaying  piety 
and  ability.  After  teaching  the  humanities  in  that 
institution  for  three  years,  he  entered  St.  Mary's 
Seminary,  Baltimore,  to  pursue  his  theological  studies 

134 


ET.    KEV.    BENEDICT  JOSEPH  FENWICK,    SECOND  BISHOP  OF  BOSTON. 


136 


RT.  REV.  B.  J.  FENWICK.  137 

Tinder  the  Sulpitians,  then  directed  by  the  venerable 
Nagot.  When,  however,  in  1806  the  former  members 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  this  country  were  permitted 
to  reorganize  and  unite  with  the  Jesuits  in  Russia,  a 
novitiate  was  opened  at  Georgetown  College,  young 
Fen  wick  presented  himself  for  admission,  and  was  one 
of  the  first  little  band  of  six  who  entered  on  the  10th 
of  October.  Here  he  continued  his  course  of  divinity, 
and  was  ordained  priest  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Leonard 
Neale,  Bishop  of  Gortyna,  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  June  11,  1808.  In  the  autumn  of  that  year 
he  was  sent  to  New  York  as  assistant  to  the  Rev. 
Father  Anthony  Kohlmann,  whom  Arclibishoj) 
Carroll  had  with  the  consent  of  Bishop  Concanen 
appointed  to  administer  the  diocese  till  the  arrival  of 
that  prelate  from  Italy.  Father  Fenwick  labored 
earnestly  at  St.  Peter's  Church,  and  was  at  the  head 
of  the  college  commenced  under  the  name  of  "The 
New  York  Literary  Institution."  After  the  death 
of  Bishop  Concanen  and  till  about  the  time  of  the 
appointment  of  his  successor,  Father  Kohlmann  re- 
mained as  Administrator,  but  after  Bishop  Connolly's 
consecration,  he  was  recalled  to  Maryland,^  and  Father 
Fenwick,  though  holding  no  oiRcial  position,  remained 
in  the  charge  of  the  diocese  laboring  to  preserve  order 
till  the  summer  of  1816,  after  the  arrival  of  Bishop 
Connolly.  Though  he  had  evidently  come  with  strong 
prejudices,  that  prelate  soon  saw  the  value  of  such  a 
priest  as  Father  Fenwick.  He  made  him  Vicar 
General,  and  pleaded  strongly  with  his  superiors  in 
Maryland  to  retain  him  at  New  York.^    He  was  presi- 

'  Archbishop  Carroll  to  Rev.  John  Grassi,  March  31;  1815,  complains 
of  his  recall.  F.  McElroy's  Diary  mentions  liis  arrival  at  Georgetown 
Jan.  17,  1815. 

'  Bishop  Connolly  to  F.  John  Grassi,  July  1,  1816. 


138      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

dent  of  Georgetown  College  in  1817-8,  but  when  Arch- 
bishop Marechal  appealed  to  the  Superior  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  for  able  priests  to  restore  order  in 
Charleston,  Fathers  Fen  wick  and  Wallace  were 
sent.  Rev.  Mr.  Fenwick  managed  affairs  with  so 
much  ability  and  tact  that  he  obtained  complete  con- 
trol, reviving  faith  and  piety  in  all  wlio  were  not  com- 
pletely lost,  so  that  when  Bishop  England  arrived,  that 
clear-sighted  Bishop  laid  aside  the  unfavorable  j)re- 
possessions  which  had  been  produced  upon  him.  He 
saw  the  merit  and  value  of  the  Jesuit  Father,  and 
would  not  allow  him  to  depart.  In  1822  Father  Fen- 
wick was  recalled  to  Georgetown  College,  where  he 
became  minister  of  the  college  and  procurator  of  the 
mission.  From  1824  to  September  in  the  following 
year  he  was  actually  president,  to  the  great  satisfac- 
tion of  parents  and  pupils. 

When  the  bulls  of  Pope  Leo  XII.,  dated  May  10, 
1825,  arrived,  requiring  him  to  accept  the  mitre  of  Bos- 
ton, the  unambitious  Jesuit  prepared  by  a  retreat  for 
the  sacrifice  imperatively  demanded  of  him.  On  the 
feast  of  All  Saints,  1825,  just  fifteen  years  after  the  con- 
secration of  his  predecessor  Bishop  Cheverus,  he  was 
consecrated  in  St.  Mary's  Cathedral,  Baltimore,  by 
Archbishop  Marechal,  assisted  by  Bishops  Conwell  of 
Philadelphia  and  England  of  Charleston.  He  was 
accompanied  to  Boston  by  the  Bishop  of  Charleston 
and  the  Rev.  Virgil  H.  Barber,  and  Avas  received  by 
the  Administrator,  Very  Rev.  William  Taylor,  and 
the  clergy  of  the  diocese  who  had  gathered  to  welcome 
him.  He  Ayas  installed  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy 
Cross  on  Su;iday,  the  4th,  by  Bishop  England.  V. 
Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  met  him  at  his  entrance,  and  exposed 
to  him  in  a  brief  manner  the  state  of  the  diocese  and 
especiallj''  of  the  Catholic    congregation   of  Boston. 


INSTALLATION.  139 

He  concluded  his  discourse  by  tendering  his  resigna- 
tion and  making  known  his  determination  to  return 
to  Europe.  After  the  first  gospel  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr. 
England  ascended  the  pulpit,  and  addressed  an  able 
discourse  to  the  people,  who  were  delighted  with  his 
eloquence.  After  the  mass  the  leading  Catholics  of 
the  diocese  came  to  congratulate  their  new  Bishop. 
Very  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  in  a  few  days  proceeded  to 
New  York,  intending  to  join  Bishop  Cheverus  in 
Europe,  though  in  fact  he  remained  about  a  year  in 
this  country. 

Bishop  Fenwick  took  up  the  work  of  the  episcopate 
with  courage  and  energy,  thoroughly  convinced  of 
the  difficulties  of  his  position  with  a  handful  of  Cath- 
olics lost,  so  to  say,  amid  the  most  thoroughly  Eng- 
lish and  anti-catholic  portion  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States. 

"The  diocese  of  Boston,"  Bishop  Fenwick  wrote  at 
the  time,  "  comprehends  all  the  New  England  States. 
The  Catholics  reside  principally  in  Boston.  In  other 
parts  of  these  States  their  number  is  comparatively 
small,  though  latterly  they  are,  from  various  circum- 
stances, beginning  to  become  somewhat  more  numer- 
ous.". .  .  "At  present  there  are  in  all  the  diocese  but 
eight  churches  ;  all  of  which,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Cathedral,  scarcely  deserve  the  name.  These  churches 
are  in  the  following  places  :  The  Cathedral  in  Boston, 
attended  by  the  Bishop  and  one  clergyman.  Rev. 
Mr.  Byrne.  The  congregation  is  numerous,  far  too 
much  so  for  the  present  size  of  the  church ;  but  it 
will  be  one  of  the  first  objects  of  the  Bishop  to  en- 
large and  extend  it  as  far  as  the  lot  owned  by  the 
church  will  admit  of.  2.  A  small  edifice  intended  for 
a  church  in  South  Boston.  No  mass  is  celebrated 
there  for  the  want  of  a  priest.     Hereafter  it  is  the 


140       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Bishop's  intention  to  enlarge  it  also  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  Catholics  living  in  its  immediate  neigh- 
borhood, who  are  growing  daily  more  and  more  num- 
erous. 3.  A  small  brick  church  in  Claremont,  New 
Hampshire,  erected  by  the  strenuous  exertions  of  the 
Rev.  Virgil  H.  Barber,  who  is  now  officiating  in  it.  The 
Catholics  who  attend  it  for  divine  worship  are  almost 
entirely  converts  to  the  faith  within  these  five  or  six 
years  past.  They  are  to  the  number  of  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  individuals  in  all,  scattered  over  a 
district  of  ten  or  fifteen  miles.  4.  A  neat  and  hand- 
some frame  church  in  Salem  not  quite  finished.  The 
congregation  consists  of  almost  one  hundred  and  fifty 
or  two  hundred  souls.  They  have  no  pastor,  but  the 
Bishop  or  Rev.  Mr.  Byrne,  to  afford  them  an  oppor- 
tunity of  frequenting  the  sacraments,  pays  them  a 
monthly  visit.  Tlie  Catholics  in  this  town  are  gener- 
ally very  poor,  scarcely  able  to  support  a  clergyman. 
5.  A  small  brick  church  at  Damariscotta,  in  the  State 
of  Maine.  The  congregation  is  extremely  small,  con- 
sisting of  five  or  six  families  only.  It  is  served  once 
a  month  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ryan„  6.  A  small  frame 
church  at  Whitefield,  Maine,  which  is  likewise  served 
by  the  Rev.  Dennis  Ryan,  who  divides  his  time  be- 
tween the  two  places.  The  congregation  belonging  to 
this  last-mentioned  church  is  greatly  scattered  and  is 
far  more  numerous  than  the  other.  The  church  is 
said  to  contain  four  or  five  hundred  persons,  and  is 
generally  filled  in  good  weather.  7.  The  church  at 
Oldtown,  Maine.  This  church  was  erected  exclu- 
sively for  the  Penobscot  tribe  of  Indians,  who  are  all 
Catholics.  It  is  old  and  small.  The  tribe  consists  of 
about  four  hundred  souls.  They  are  without  pastor, 
though  they  anxiously  desire  one.  The.  Bishop  will 
avail  himself  of  the  very  first  opportunity  to  satisfy 


URSULINE  CONVENT.  141 

their  wishes.  8.  The  church  at  Passamaquoddy, 
Maine.  This  church  was  also  erected  exclusively  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Passamaquoddy  tribe  of  Indians, 
who  like  the  other  are  entirely  Catholics.  Their 
number  is  about  three  hundred  ;  the  church  though 
small  is  tolerably  decent.  Adjoining  to  it  is  a  house 
for  a  clergyman  ;  but  unfortunately,  like  their  breth- 
ren at  Oldtown,  they  are  at  present  destitute  of  a 
pastor.  The  Bishop  will  make  it  his  duty  to  procure 
one,  who  may  divide  his  time  equally  between  the  two 
tribes.^ 

Bishop  Fenwick  was  greatly  surprised,  on  visiting 
the  Ursuline  Convent,  that  such  a  situation  should 
have  been  selected  for  the  establishment  of  a  house  of 
religious  women.  It  was  in  the  immediate  neighbor- 
hood of  a  theatre,  was  confined  and  contracted,  and 
was  exposed  to  the  observation  of  those  inhabiting  the 
houses  opposite.  There  was  scarcely  a  spot  of  ground 
for  the  ladies  to  take  any  exercise  or  obtain  a  breath 
of  fresh  air.  They  seemed  in  fact  to  drag  out  a  linger- 
ing existence.  The  Superior  confirmed  his  impression 
by  declaring  that  health  had  long  since  taken  leave  of 
the  house. ^  He  visited  the  vicinity  of  Boston  to  find 
a  situation  which  he  could  consider  suited  to  the  use 
of  a  convent  and  academy,  and  was  greatly  impressed 
by  the  advantages  of  a  place  on  the  Medford  road, 
Charlestown,  lying  beautifully  on  Ploughed  Hill  Avest 
of  the  famous  Bunker  Hill.  The  soil  was  excellent ; 
the  prospect  from  it  one  of  the  finest  on  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Boston.     There  was  on  it  a  convenient  house, 


•Fenwick,  "Memoranda  of  the  Diocese  of  Boston,"  Dec.  3,  1835. 
"  Memoirs  to  serve  for  the  future  history  of  the  Diocese  of  Boston." 

^  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoranda  of  the  Diocese  of  Boston,  "  Feb.  13, 
1826. 


142       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

a  good  barn  with  necessary  outbuildings.  It  could 
be  obtained  for  $8300.  The  Superior  of  the  com- 
munity readily  adopted  the  Bishop's  views:  their 
Boston  house  was  valued  by  competent  judges  at  eight 
thousand  dollars;  this  Dr.  Fen  wick  agreed  to  pay,  and 
the  Charlestown  property  was  purchased.  Two  small 
wings  were  added  to  the  house,  one  to  serve  as  a 
chapel,  the  other  for  a  kitchen,  and  the  whole  was 
fenced  in.  The  little  community,  consisting  of  four 
choir  nuns  and  two  lay  sisters,  left  Boston  on  the  31st 
of  July,  having  resided  there  six  years  and  ^ix  months, 
and  took  possession  of  the  new  place,  and  gave  it  the 
name  of  Mount  Benedict.  The  delight  of  the  nuns  on 
occupying  their  new  home,  so  different  from  the  close 
and  noisy  situation  in  which  they  had  been  confined, 
can  be  readily  imagined.  The  Bishop  soon  visited 
them,  and  from  the  6th  of  August  said  mass  for 
them  in  their  chapel  on  Sundays  and  Wednesdays, 
returning  to  Boston  on  Sunday  to  say  a  seven  o'clock 
mass  for  the  congregation  in  the  Cathedral.  On  the 
feast  of  the  Assumption,  Mary  Barber  was  admitted 
as  a  novice  into  the  community. 

Alive  to  the  importance  of  securing  the  young,  bj'^  a 
thorough  Catholic  education,  from  the  allurements  and 
seductions  which  the  community  around  him  would 
employ  by  individual  effort,  church  action,  and  the 
prostitution  of  State  power  to  pervert  the  young  of 
his  flock,  he  established  a  day  school  in  Boston  and 
gave  special  attention  to  the  Sunday  School,  till 
better  provision  could  be  made  for  affording  all  a 
really  Catholic  education.^ 

Bishop  Fenwick  soon  learned  that  the   spirit  of 


'Bishop  Fenwick,  "Memoirs  to  serve,"  etc.  ;"  Memoranda  of  the 
Diocese  of  Boston." 


HIS  LABORS.  143 

trusteeism  existed.  Dr.  Matignon  had  managed  all 
financial  affairs  liimself,  having  great  aptitude  for  it ; 
Bishop  Cheverus,  however,  had  selected  seven  mem- 
bers of  the  congregation,  to  whom  he  committed  the 
temporalities.  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Boston, 
Bishop  Fenwick  was  waited  upon  by  a  deputation 
who  complained  of  the  management  by  these  gentle- 
men, and  asked  that  others  should  be  elected  by  the 
congregation,  to  let  the  pews,  collect  tlie  rents  and 
the  contributions  of  the  faithful,  and  expend  the  same. 
"The  Bishop  having  before  his  eyes,  in  other  cities, 
the  deplorable  consequences  resulting  from  such  a 
state  of  things,  determined  and  resolved,  with  the 
blessing  of  divine  grace,  to  resist  every  encroachment 
of  the  kind."  He  deferred  action  for  a  time,  but  fin- 
ally allowed  such  a  selection  for  a  single  occasion  only. 
Bitter  feeling  was  manifested,  meetings  held,  and 
when  the  matter  came  to  a  choice  five  of  the  managers 
were  displaced,  and,  as  he  subsequently  learned,  one 
had  rendered  himself  peculiarly  obnoxious,  though  a 
most  worthy,  upright,  and  honest  man. 

He  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of  the  faithful  in 
Boston  ;  having  only  one  priest  to  aid  him,  with  two 
others  a  hundred  miles  off.  The  Cathedral  had  be- 
come utterly  inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the  congrega- 
tion and  needed  to  be  enlarged.  He  soon  planned  an 
addition  seventy-two  feet  wide  and  forty  long,  which 
would  give  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  two  feet, 
and  afford  space  for  side  altars  and  sacristies.  He 
issued  Lenten  regulations  and  labored  earnestly  to 
rouse  the  faith  and  devotion  of  the  people.  A  visit 
to  Salem,  where  few  attended  the  mass  which  he 
celebrated,  showed  him  the  work  needed  outside  of 
Boston. 

His  Sunday  School  was  put  on  a  new  footing,  and 


144       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

he  prepared  for  regular  day-schools.  By  Pentecost 
he  had  a  class  of  ninety-nine  on  Avhom  he  conferred 
the  sacrament  of  confirmation,  many  making  their  first 
communion. 

At  the  close  of  May,  with  Father  Virgil  H.  Barber 
he  visited  Claremont.  On  the  day  after  the  arrival 
he  celebrated  mass,  the  little  chapel  being  thronged, 
and  the  rooms  above  as  well  as  all  the  space  around 
the  church  being  occupied  by  Protestants  whose 
curiosity  was  excited.  The  Bishop  on  this  occasion 
confirmed  twenty-one.  The  congregation  was  still 
small,  about  150  in  all,  consisting  mainly  of  converts, 
few  of  them  residing  near  the  church.  Here  Father 
Virgil  H,  Barber  had  erected,  opposite  the  old  Episco- 
pal church,  a  brick  church  twenty  feet  in  width  by 
forty-eight  in  length,  and  employed  part  of  the  edifice 
for  an  academy,  from  which  he  derived  his  mainten- 
ance. 

Bishop  Fen  wick  was  encouraged  by  the  application 
of  two  young  men  in  July,  James  Fitton  and  William 
Wiley,  who  wished  to  study  for  the  priesthood,  soon 
followed  by  William  Tyler,  a  nephew  of  Father  Bar- 
ber, and  by  the  arrival  of  Rev.  Mr.  Mahony  from 
Maryland,  and  Father  Charles  D.  Ffrench  from  New 
Brunswick.  He  appointed  Rev.  Mr.  Mahony  to 
Salem,  and  Father  Ffrench  to  Eastport,  Maine,  with 
the  care  of  the  neighboring  Indians,  instructing  him 
to  erect  a  church  as  soon  as  possible  at  Eastport.  He 
despatched  Father  Barber  to  visit  Dover,  New  Hamp- 
shire, Bangor  and  Eastport  in  Maine,  and  the  two 
Indian  towns.  Then  he  called  his  people  together  to 
organize  collections  for  enlarging  the  Cathedral  of  the 
Holy  Cross,  and,  moving  into  the  former  convent  of 
the  Ursulines,  demolished  the  old  residence  and  be- 
gan the  work,  but  found  the  contributions  so  meagre 


CATHEDRAL  ENLARGED.  145 

that  lie  could  do  no  more  than  raise  the  walls  and  put 
on  the  roof,  slating  the  dome.^ 

Though  his  labors  were  severe,  he  proclaimed  the 
Jubilee  in  December,  and  aided  by  Rev.  Messrs. 
Byrne  and  Mahony  gave  a  regular  mission  to  his 
flock,  with  daily  masses,  sermons,  instructions,  and 
devout  exercises.  He  was  consoled  by  beholding 
twelve  hundred  approach  the  sacraments. 

During  the  year  the  Bishop  had  scarcely  a  moment 
to  himself  ;  his  lessons  to  his  seminarians,  his  parochial 
work,  his  duties  as  chaplain  to  the  nuns,  the  work  at 
the  convent  and  church,  absorbed  his  whole  time. 

Early  in  1827  he  began  the  erection  of  a  new  edifice 
on  the  convent  grounds,  adapted  for  tl]\  use  of  a  com- 
munity ;  as  well  as  to  the  general  improvement  of  the 
property.  Then  he  sent  Rev.  Mr.  Byrne  to  Newport, 
to  attend  the  men  employed  on  the  fortifications  and 
in  the  coal  mines,  numbering  in  all  nearly  two  hun- 
dred. Sending  Rev.  Mr.  Mahony  to  Claremont,  he 
replaced  him  for  the  time  at  Salem,  publishing  the 
Jubilee  and  giving  a  mission  with  happy  results. 

By  the  27th  of  May  the  addition  to  the  Cathedral 
was  completed,  the  wall  removed,  and  the  altar  set  up 
at  which  he  offered  the  holy  sacrifice.  The  basement 
was  next  prepared  for  his  proposed  schools.  After 
administering  confirmation  in  his  Cathedral  on  Whit- 
sunday, he  took  the  steamer  for  Portland  on  the  10th 
of  July,  1827,  and  then  by  a  coaster  reached  Eastport, 
where  he  found  the  Rev.  Charles  Ffrench.  The  next 
day  the  Bishop  and  priest  Avere  escorted  with  pomp 

'  Bp.  Fenwick,  "  Memoirs  to  §erve  for  the  future  History  of  the  Dio- 
cese of  Baltimore";  "  Memoranda  of  the  Diocese  of  Boston";  Truth 
Teller,  Nov.  12,  1825 ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  Dec.  21,  1824  ;  D.  Bar- 
ber, "  History  of  my  Owu  Times."  part  2,  p.  7  :  Bishop  De  Goesbriaod, 
"Memoirs,"  p.  62. 


146       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

by  the  Indians  to  their  village  at  Pleasant  Point. 
The  governor  of  the  Passamaquoddies  addressed  him 
in  French,  and  he  took  up  his  quarters  in  the  house 
formerly  occupied  by  the  Abbe  Romagne.  Father 
Ffrench  had  for  some  months  instructed  the  Indians, 
and  on  Sunday  Bishop  Fenwick  was  taken  in  pro- 
cession to  the  church  where  he  said  mass,  and  after  a 
high  mass  sung  by  Father  Ffrench  he  gave  an  instruc- 
tion in  English  for  the  Protestants  whom  his  presence 
had  attracted,  and  another  for  the  Indians  which  was 
interpreted  to  them.  The  next  day  he  again  said 
mass  and  confirmed  some  unable  to  arrive  in  season. 
He  found  at  this  place  an  individual  who  was  at 
once  a  missionary  sent  by  a  Protestant  proselytizing 
Society  and  a  teacher  under  the  United  States  Indian 
department.  Although  paid  by  both  he  neither 
preached  nor  taught,  and  admitted  that  his  reports 
were  fictitious.  An  examination  at  the  school  showed 
that  not  a  child  could  spell  a  word  of  two  syllables. 
The  Bishop  remained  several  days,  saying  mass,  con- 
firming, visiting  the  sick  ;  then  convening  the  tribe  he 
urged  them  to  persevere  in  the  faith,  promising  them 
a  resident  priest  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  obtain  one. 

At  Eastport  he  said  mass  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Kelly, 
selected  a  spot  for  a  church,  and  started  a  subscrip- 
tion for  its  erection.  At  the  invitation  of  the  Protes- 
tants he  preached  in  one  of  their  churches.  The 
following  days  were  devoted  to  instructions,  and  he 
confirmed  some  eighteen  or  twenty  at  this  place. 
Leaving  Eastport  he  made  his  way  by  boat  and  stage 
to  Bangor. 

"At  Belfast,"  says  Bishop  Fenwick,  "I  inquired 
whether  there  were  any  Catliolics  in  the  town.  Was 
informed  there  were  none.  Took  a  walk  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  town  to  see  whether  I  could  discover  any. 


INCIDENT  AT  BELFAST.  147 

Was  unsuccessful :  returned  to  the  hotel  and  em- 
ployed myself  in  reciting  the  divine  office  until  din- 
ner. After  dinner  took  another  walk  to  the  upper 
part  of  the  town.  Had  not  proceeded  far  when  I  met 
an  Irish  woman  coming  into  town  from  the  country 
with  a  child  in  her  arms.  Stopped  her  and  inquired 
whether  she  was  not  a  Catholic.  After  surveying  me 
cautiously  with  her  eyes  for  some  moments,  she 
answered  she  was.  I  asked  her  whither  she  was  going. 
She  said  to  Mr.  McGann's.  Would  she  conduct  me 
to  his  house  ?  She  said  :  '  No,  for  what  had  the  likes 
of  me  to  do  at  Mr.  McGann's?'  I  stated  to  her  that 
I  desired  very  much  to  see  him  as  well  as  all  the  other 
Catholics  in  the  town.  'Surely,'  she  replied,  'you 
were  not  going  to  his  house  when  I  first  saw  you. 
Why,  therefore,  do  you  wish  to  go  to  it  now  ? '  'In 
order  to  give  him  and  the  other  Catholics  a  little  good 
advice  on  the  Sabbath  daj%'  said  I.  '  Maybe,  then, 
you  are  a  minister? '  said  she,  looking  archly  at  me. 
'lam,'  I  replied.  'Then  I  can  tell  you,'  said  she, 
turning  abruptly  off,  '  neither  he  nor  his  family  want 
to  see  the  likes  of  you.'  At  this  time  it  began  to  rain. 
I  opened  my  umbrella  and  held  it  over  her  and  the 
child,  following  her  as  she  walked  on,  determined 
not  to  lose  the  opportunity  of  seeing  as  many  of  the 
Catholics  as  possible  before  I  left  the  town,  and 
of  ascertaining  their  number.  We  had  not  proceeded 
far  in  this  way,  when  she  stopped  abruptly  and 
said  :  '  Surely  it  is  not  to  McGann's  I  am  going  now  ; 
why,  therefore,  do  you  follow  me  ? '  '  Because  you 
told  me  a  while  ago  it  was  thither  you  were  going.' 
'Well,  then,  lam  going  to  another  place  now,'  said 
she.  '  It  is  no  matter,  I  shall  follow  you  until  you 
show  me  where  McGann  lives.'  'Well,  he  lives  down 
there,'  she  replied,  pointing  to  a  house  near  one  of  the 


148       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

wharves  of  the  village.  I  immediately  vrent  thither. 
On  entering  a  room  of  this  house,  I  beheld  on  every 
side  but  objects  of  poverty  and  wretchedness,  a  sick 
woman  groaning  in  a  corner  of  the  room  ;  two  other 
women  with  very  poor  clothing,  seated  on  the  floor, 
eight  or  ten  sickly  children  bunched  around,  and  only 
one  man,  and  he  also  poorly  clad.  I  soon  learned  from 
him  that  he  and  anoth-er  had  just  arrived  at  Belfast 
with  their  families,  that  they  had  been  able  to  get  but 
little  work  since  their  arrival,  that  almost  all  of  them 
had  been,  and  some  of  them  were,  still  sick,  and  that 
they  were  perishing  for  the  want  of  the  necessaries  of 
life.  Seeing  so  much  misery,  I  immediately  informed 
him  who  I  was,  gave  him  money,  and  directed  him  to 
go  out  without  delay  and  purchase  tea,  sugar,  bread, 
butter  and  milk,  if  he  could  find  it  at  that  hour  of  the 
day,  and  that  afterwards  I  should  enable  him  to  pro- 
cure other  provisions.  As  he  went  out  I  called  to  him 
to  purchase  also  some  gingerbread  for  the  children, 
who  appeared  very  hungry.  After  this  I  approached 
the  bed  where  the  poor  sick  woman  lay,  and  spoke  to 
her  in  a  manner  suited  to  her  present  circumstances, 
and  at  the  same  time  informed  her  that  I  should  leave 
her  and  return  in  a  couple  of  hours,  to  hear  her  con- 
fession as  well  as  the  confessions  of  all  the  others  in 
the  house.  The  poor  woman  was  greatly  overjoyed, 
and  with  abundance  of  tears  expressed  gratitude  to 
God  for  having  sent  her  a  priest  at  so  critical  a  time  in 
a  foreign  land.  In  a  short  time  the  man  returned  with 
the  tea,  sugar,  and  other  things  sent  for.  I  caused  the 
tea  to  be  immediately  prepared  and  given  to  the  sick 
woman,  I  next  distributed  the  gingerbread  among 
the  children.  A  total  change  immediately  ensued. 
Gloom  and  almost  despair  were  succeeded  by  joy  and 
hope.     I  then  acquainted  them  with  the  nature  of  the 


INCIDENT  AT  BELFAST.  149 

country  into  which  they  had  just  arrived,  the  favor- 
able prospects  it  held  out  to  the  sober  and  indus- 
trious, and  concluded  by  observing  to  them,  that  in 
my  opinion  Whitefield  would  be  a  far  more  suitable 
country  for  them,  as  a  number  of  their  countrymen 
had  already  taken  farms  there  and  were  doing  well. 
I  requested  them,  as  I  was  about  to  withdraw,  to  give 
notice  to  other  Catholics  who  might  be  in  town,  that 
I  should  return  in  a  couple  of  hours  to  this  house  for 
the  purpose  of  giving  them  an  opx)ortunity  of  going 
to  their  confessions,  'for,'  added  I,  'it  is  important 
you  should  make  a  good  beginning  in  this  country  of 
your  adoption ;  and  besides,  you  know  not  when  you 
may  enjoy  another  opxDortunity  of  seeing  a  iDriest.' 

"About  this  time  the  woman  whom  I  had  met  in 
the  iipper  part  of  the  town  came  in.  As  soon  as  she 
had  entered  and  seated  herself,  staring  all  the  time 
wildly  at  me,  'There,'  said  I  jokingly,  '  is  an  Irish- 
woman and  a  Catholic,  who  when  asked  by  a  stranger 
to  show  the  way  to  a  friend's  house,  refused  to  do  it. 
She  cannot  be  a  true  born  Catholid.'  '  And  surely  it 
was  because  I  thought  it  was  no  good  you  were  after,' 
she  replied,  continuing  still  to  gaze  around.  '  Whist ! 
whist ! '  said  one  of  the  women  present,  '  mind  it  is  to 
the  Bishop  you  are  speaking  all  this  while.'  I  could 
not  forbear  laughing  at  the  peculiar  tone  in  which 
this  was  expressed,  in  which  they  all  joined.  The 
poor  woman  seemed  much  disconcerted  for  a  while,  but 
when  I  assured  her  that  I  viewed  her  conduct  on  that 
occasion  as  an  act  of  prudence  on  her  part,  and  that  I 
commended  her  for  it,  she  soon  recovered  her  spirits. 
'No,  no,'  said  she,  'it  is  not  for  the  like  of  me  to 
behave  amiss  to  my  own  Clergy  when  I  know  them.' 
Upon  this  I  left  the  room  and  returned  to  the  hotel 
greatly  pleased  with  the  discovery  I  had  made.     After 


150       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

an  interval  of  two  hours  or  thereabouts,  I  returned 
according  to  promise  to  McGann's,  where  I  found  a 
pretty  good  number  assembled.  I  gave  them  an  ex- 
hortation and  afterwards  heard  all  their  confessions. 
In  conclusion  I  recommended  to  them  to  be  particu- 
larly careful  of  their  conduct,  attentive  to  the  duty 
which  they  owed  to  God  and  observant  of  His  holy 
law.  At  parting  I  gave  them  more  money  to  supply 
their  more  pressing  necessities,  and  was  particularly 
happy  to  see  the  good  effects  the  tea  had  already  pro- 
duced upon  the  sick  woman,  for  she  was  soon  able  to 
move  about  a  little  and  exhibited  in  her  appearance 
a  great  alteration  for  the  better.  I  gave  them  all  my 
blessing,  took  leave  of  them,  and  departed."  ^ 

He  then  j^roceeded  to  Indian  Old  Town  by  way  of 
Bangor.  As  his  canoe  approached  the  island  the 
Indians  hoisted  their  flag  and  saluted  him  with  a  volley 
of  musketry.  On  being  escorted  to  the  church  he  ex- 
plained the  object  of  his  visit.  The  next  day  he  sang 
a  high  mass,  the  Indians  forming  a  very  fair  choir. 
He  found  that  parents  had  carefully  instructed  their 
children  so  that  he  was  able  to  hear  the  confessions  of 
young  and  old.  Other  days  was  similarly  spent ;  then 
he  said  a  requiem  mass  for  the  dead  and  blessed  their 
graves.  By  Sunday  he  had  given  holy  communion  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty.  Then  after  a  solemn  high 
mass,  at  which  many  more  approached  the  sacrament 
of  the  altar,  he  administered  confirmation  to  eighty- 
two.  On  this  occasion  he  was  greatly  annoyed  by  the 
rude  behavior  of  the  whites,  chiefly  lumberers,  and  at 
last  expostulated  with  them,  asking  whether  they  or 
the  well-behaved  Indians  were  the  real  savages.  After 
concluding  his  mission  he  crossed  the  river  in  a  canoe, 

'  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoirs  to  serve,  etc." 


INCIDENT  AT  BELFAST.  161 

amid  the  regrets  of  his  Indians,  and  on  landing  was 
received  in  a  double  line  by  the  very  men  whom  he 
had  so  recently  reproved. 

On  his  homeward  journey  he  visited  Newcastle  and 
Whitelield,  officiating  and  giving  confirmation,  al- 
though he  had  become  extremely  ill.  He  felt  it  neces- 
sary to  return  liome  at  once.  At  Portland,  the  Bishop 
says:  "In  the  course  of  the  evening  learned  that  a 
Mr.  O'Connor,  a  very  decent  man,  resided  in  the  town. 
Called  on  him  to  make  my  arrival  known,  August  9. 
Having  understood  that  the  Catholics  were  in  the 
habit  of  assembling  every  Sunday,  in  order  to  recite 
their  prayers  together  and  read  spiritual  books,  went 
to  visit  the  room  hired  by  them  for  this  purpose. 
This  was  an  upper  chamber  in  a  house  adjoining  the 
Museum.  It  had  a  very  jDoor  appearance  and  bespoke 
the  poverty  of  the  Catholics  of  this  place  ;  reminded 
me  of  the  upper  chamber  spoken  of  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles.  Nevertheless  informed  the  two  Catholics 
who  accompanied  me,  that  I  should  celebrate  mass 
and  give  confirmation  in  it  on  tlie  ensuing  Sunday. 
Requested  them  in  the  mean  time  to  have  it  well  swept 
and  the  altar  decently  arranged  by  that  day 

"August  12  (Sunday).  Went  at  an  early  hour  to 
the  Upper  Chamber,  heard  confessions  till  ten  o'clock, 
then  began  to  prepare  for  the  celebration  of  mass. 
The  room  was  soon  filled,  probably  to  the  number  of 
160  persons.  Celebrated  mass,  at  the  end  of  which 
preached  and  gave  confirmation  to  thirteen  persons." 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  ceremony  addressed  the 
Catholics  again  and  recommended  to  them  to  make  a 
collection  among  themselves  monthly,  and  to  apply 
the  proceeds  toward  the  purchase  of  a  lot  of  ground  ; 
that  when  this  was  once  obtained,  it  would  be  easy  to 
find  funds  to  erect  a  church  thereon.     I  also  enjoined 


152       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

them  to  continue  to  assemble  every  Sunday  for  the 
purpose  of  devotion,  and  that  as  soon  as  possible  I 
should  send  them  a  priest  to  attend  them."^ 

After  waiting  on  the  Governor  of  Maine,  Mr,  Lincoln, 
to  represent  the  actual  condition  of  the  two  Indian 
bands,  and  the  necessity  of  state  action.  Bishop  Fen- 
wick  proceeded  to  Saco,  where  he  was  cordially  wel- 
comed by  Dr.  Henry  Greene  who  invited  him  to  his 
house.  He  and  Mr.  Tucker,  another  convert,  were  the 
only  Catholics  in  the  place  except  three  or  four  Irish 
families,  who  had  recently  arrived.  He  celebrated 
mass  on  the  feast  of  the  Assumption  in  Dr.  Greene's 
parlor,  and  confirmed  him  and  three  others.  The 
Bishop  learned  that  this  was  the  first  time  that  the 
holy  sacrifice  had  ever  been  offered  in  Saco.  Dr. 
Greene  expressed  his  joy  that  this  event  had  taken 
place  in  his  house,  and  regretted  that  his  brother  con- 
vert, Mr.  Tucker,  was  absent  on  account  of  business. 

The  Bishop  in  the  evening  by  invitation  lectured  on 
the  great  truths  of  religion  in  the  hall  occupied  by  the 
Episcopalians.  At  Dover,  New  Hampshire,  he  found 
that  the  Catholics  had  hired  a  room  where  they  met 
on  Sundays,  but  as  it  was  not  in  a  central  position  he 
said  mass  at  the  house  of  Mr,  Burns,  which  was  at- 
tended by  about  fifty.  He  heard  several  confessions, 
but  few  received  holy  communion.  The  Bishop  saw 
that  faith  was  dying  out  for  want  of  a  regular  pastor. 
He  urged  them  to  open  a  subscription  to  buy  a  lot  for 
a  church,  and  promised  them  a  j^riest  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment. 

On  his  return  to  Boston,  Rev.  Mr.  Mahony  resumed 
his  duties  at  Salem,  the  Bishop  authorizing  him  to 
attend  Lowell  where  there  were  fifty  Catholics,  twenty- 

•  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoirs  to  serve,  etc." 


RHODE  ISLAND.  153 

one  with  families.     This  clergyman  also  extended  his 
care  to  the  flock  at  Dover. 

In  the  Ember  days  of  December,  1827,  Bishop  Fen- 
wick  had  the  consolation  of  ordaining  as  priests  Revs. 
James  Fitton,  William  Wiley,  and  John  Smith,  whom 
he  had  trained  for  his  missions.^  The  southern  part 
of  the  diocese  had  not  been  neglected.  In  February, 
1827,  Rev.  Patrick  Byrne  began  his  labors  among  the 
Catholics  employed  at  Fort  Adams  and  in  the  coal 
mines  at  Newport,  and  in  the  same  year,  V.  Rev.  Johnj 
Power  of  New  York  is  reported  to  have  said  mass  ini. 
an  old  building  at  Windsor  Locks,  Connecticut.. 
Early  in  January,  1828,  Bishoj)  Fenwick  received  into- 
his  diocese  the  Rev.  Robert  D.  Woodley,  and  ap- 
pointed him  to  Providence  and  Pawtucket,  directing 
him  also  to  make  occasional  visits  to  Taunton,  where 
there  were  about  fifty  Catholics  ;  and  to  Fall  River 
and  Newport,  which  could  scarcely  boast  a  score.  At 
this  time  Pawtucket  had  a  Catholic  population  of  one 
hundred,  and  Providence  about  half  that  number. 
Though  poor,  the  devotion  of  these  Catholics  to  their 
religion  excited  respect  in  some  noble  hearts.  David 
Wilkinson  at  Pawtucket  gave  a  fine  site  for  a  church, 
where  the  corner-stone  of  the  House  of  God  was  soon 
laid.  At  Providence  mass  was  said  in  Mechanics' 
Hall.2 

On  every  side  Bishop  Fenwick  saw  that  priests  were 
needed :  he  had  but  few,  yet  one  proved  unworthy, 
and  was  dismissed,  another  lost  his  reason,  and  to  his 
great  regret  the  Superior  of  the  Jesuits  recalled  his 
friend  Rev.  Virgil  H.  Barber,  who  obeyed,  but  closed 


'  Bishop  Fenwick,  Sept.  6,  1831.    "  Memoirs  to  serve."   "  Memoranda.'* 
Annales  do  I'Association  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  n.,  p.  447. 

*  Truth  Teller,  Jan.  5,  1828. 


154       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

his  church  at  Chiremont  most  regretfully  and  delivered 
the  key  to  the  Bishop  in  Boston.  Bishop  Fenwick 
wrote  a  most  touching  letter  to  Y.  Rev.  Father  Dzie- 
rozinski,  imploring  that  he  might  at  least  retain 
Father  Barber  for  his  Indian  Catholics,  v^hose  ancestry 
had  been  converted  by  heroic  Jesuits. 

Sending  Rev.  James  Fitton  to  Passamaquoddy, 
Bishop  Fenwick  set  out  for  Montreal  with  two  boys 
whom  he  intended  to  place  in  the  college,  and  with 
the  hope  that  by  explaining  his  necessities  to  the 
Bishops  and  clergy  of  that  Catholic  province  he  might 
secure,  at  least  for  a  time,  the  services  of  some  good 
priests.  He  was  cordially  welcomed,  and  deeply  im- 
pressed with  the  character  of  the  clergy  and  the  zeal 
of  the  people.  He  received  some  presents  of  chalices, 
and  other  altar  plate  which  he  greatly  needed  and 
could  not  easily  obtain,  but  he  failed  to  obtain  any 
clergymen  for  his  missions.  One  Quebec  incident  is 
worth  noting. 

' '  In  passing  and  repassing  the  west  side  of  the 
market-place,"  says  Bishop  Fenwick,  "in  the  upper 
town,  as  I  had  frequent  occasion,  while  visiting  the 
different  religious  establishments  of  this  interesting 
city,  my  eyes  were  frequently  arrested  by  a  splendid 
I  H  8  in  gilt  letters,  inscribed  over  the  main  entrance 
into  a  magnificent  stone  edifice  surrounded  by  a  high 
and  extensive  wall.  Inquired  what  building  that  was. 
Was  told  that  it  was  formerly  the  College  of  the 
Jesuits,  which  was  seized  by  order  of  government 
some  years  back  and  converted  into  barracks  for 
soldiers,  and  which  are  still  employed  for  that  base 
and  unworthy  purpose !  Poor,  injured  Society  of 
Jesus  !  how  hast  thou  been  traduced  !  how  hast  thou 
been  persecuted  by  the  world  in  every  clime  !  But  it 
is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  the  disciple  is  not  above 


RHODE  ISLAND.  155 

the  master,  and  that  thus  the  Lord  of  all  was  himself 
treated.  This  was  then  the  house  out  of  which  so 
many  apostolic  men  issued  in  their  day  to  carry  the 
gospel  to  all  the  savage  tribes  of  North  America,  and 
who  by  their  enlightened  zeal  and  their  truly  exem- 
plary conduct  brought  so  many  of  them  into  the  one 
f  old'and  under  the  one  shepherd.  This  was  the  house 
to  which  the  martyred  Rale  was  wont  to  resort  annu- 
ally for  his  spiritual  renovation,  and  from  which  he 
again  and  again  returned  with  energy  and  vigor  to 
edify  and  to  teach  the  Abenakis  tribes  of  Maine  how 
to  live  as  Christians,  and  how  to  endure  their  many 
hardships  and  privations  by  his  own  example.  Yes, 
this  house,  the  sacred  edifice,  to  which  Canada  in  par- 
ticular owes  so  much— in  which  the  highest  and  most 
heroic  virtues  were  daily  inculcated  and  practiced— in 
which  the  praises  of  God  were  so  often  sung,  this 
house  is  now  converted  by  government  into  a  common 

receptacle  for  soldiers  !     I  would  not  enter  it 

I  would  not  visit  the  interior  of  a  house  polluted  by 
sacrilege  and  crime." 

The  Bishop,  on  his  return,  found  that  the  handsome 
brick  church  at  Portland  was  rising,  and  that  at  East- 
port,  30  feet  by  40,  would  soon  be  covered  in  by  Father 
Charles  D.  Ffrench,  who  could  also  report  progress  at 
Dover,  while  Rev.  R.  D.  Woodley  gave  encouraging 
tidings  from  Providence  and  Newport.  Soon  after, 
the  Bishop  called  a  meeting  of  the  Catholics  in  Charles- 
town  and  Craigie's  Point,  roused  their  zeal  so  that  two 
thousand  dollars  was  soon  subscribed,  selected  a  site, 
and  signed  the  contracts  for  the  erection  of  a  church  to 
be  dedicated  to  Our  Lady.  He  laid  the  corner-stone 
on  the  3d  of  October,  and  before  the  close  of  the  year 
had  the  gratification  of  seeing  it  covered  in.  No  part 
of  the  diocese  had  shown  such  energetic  zeal. 


156       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

In  Providence  the  Bishop  when  on  a  visitation  was 
rejoiced  to  find  the  lot  generously  given  by  David 
Wilkinson,  Esq.,  to  be  beautifully  situated  on  the 
Rhode  Island  and  commanding  a  fine  view.  He  en- 
couraged the  Catholics  to  begin  a  subscription  at  once 
for  the  purpose  of  erecting  a  church,  and  to  keep  it 
up  steadily.  At  Newport  the  schoolhouse  purchased 
for  a  church  disappointed  him,  for  though  in  an  eligi- 
ble situation  it  was  too  small  in  view  of  future  increase; 
and  he  at  once  arranged  to  purchase  an  adjoining  lot. 
Here  he  confirmed  eleven  on  All  Souls'  day. 

At  Lowell  a  hall  used  by  the  Catholics  was  already 
too  small.  T]ie  Bishop  appealed  to  tlie  great  manu- 
facturing company  through  their  kindly  agent,  Mr. 
Kirke  Boott,  for  a  site  for  a  decent  church  for  his 
humble  flock.  His  appeal  Avas  not  disregarded,  and 
he  had  hopes  of  soon  seeing  a  church  there. 

"  The  Bishoi3  having  received  information  from  Mr. 
Deodat  Taylor,  a  convert  in  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
that  the  Episcopalians,  having  nearly  completed  their 
new  church  in  that  city,  were  anxious  to  dispose  of 
their  old  one,  and  required  only  the  sum  of  $500  for 
the  same,  on  the  express  condition,  however,  that  it 
should  be  moved  to  some  other  lot,  and  that  they  were 
willing  also  to  dispose  of  their  organ  for  the  sum  of 
$400.  As  he  had  long  had  a  desire  to  establish  the 
Catholic  religion  in  this  central  city  of  Connecticut, 
he  resolved  to  set  out  immediately  and  learn  in  person 
the  exact  situation  of  things  there.  He  accordingly 
left  Boston  on  the  9th  of  July,  at  ten  o'clock,  in  the 
mail  stage,  and  having  traveled  all  night,  arrived  in 
that  city  the  following  day  at  two  o'clock  p.m.,  and 
took  up  his  lodgings  in  the  City  Hotel.  In  the  course 
of  the  afternoon  he  called  on  Mr.  Deodat  Taylor  and 
his  brother  Francis,  and  with  them  went  to  examine 


HARTFORD.  157 

the  premises,  and  after  a  thorough  examination  he 
felt  fully  satisfied  that  the  building  proposed  to  be 
sold  was  well  worth  the  money  ;  and  if  a  lot  of  land 
could  be  purchased  at  no  great  distance  from  its 
present  site,  it  would  prove  a  valuable  acquisition  to 
the  Catholics.  He,  therefore,  instructed  Mr.  Taylor 
to  conclude  the  purchase  on  the  above  terms  ;  but 
previously  to  ascertain  fully  whether  the  lot  of  land 
nearly  opposite  on  the  brow  of  the  hill  could  in  like 
manner  be  procured  at  a  reasonable  rate.  In  the 
course  of  a  few  hours  all  was  accomplished  ;  a  hand- 
some new  site  was  obtained,  and  the  church  was  pur- 
chased to  be  delivered  up  in  the  month  of  November 
ensuing. 

'*0n  the  following  Sunday  the  Bishop  celebrated 
mass  in  a  private  room,  at  which  all  the  Catholics  in 
Hartford  attended.  These  did  not  amount  to  more 
than  a  couple  of  dozen.  He  gave  them  a  short  exhor- 
tation on  the  gospel  of  the  day,  and  recommended  to 
them  in  a  particular  manner  to  live  in  peace  and  union 
among  themselves,  and  on  all  occasions  to  edify  the 
people  by  whom  they  were  surrounded,  by  their  good 
conduct."  ^ 

Thus  within  a  year  Bishop  Fenwick  secured  churches 
in  three  cities,  which  after  the  middle  of  the  century 
were  to  be  erected  successively  into  episcopal  sees, 
Hartford,  Portland,  and  Providence. 

After  lecturing  in  the  State  House  and  answering 
many  inquiries  as  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church, 
Bishop  Fenwick  returned  to  Boston. 

'Fenwick,  "Memoirs  to  serve  for  the  future  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
the  Diocese  of  Boston."  A  good  title  could  not  be  given  for  the  lot  first 
selected  and  the  church  was  moved  to  another  desirable  lot  on  Talcot 
Street.  Fitton,  "  Sketches,"  pp.  189,  314,  284  ;  130,  275  ;  U.  S.  Catholic 
Misc.,  vii.,  p.  358  ;  viii.,  pp.  7,  22,  39,  54,  80  ;  Truth  Teller,  iv.,  p.  325. 


158     THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

With  the  wants  of  his  diocese  before  him,  Bishop 
Fenwick  appealed  in  several  letters  to  Bishop  Conwell 
to  let  him  have  one  or  two  priests  for  a  few  years,  to 
meet  his  pressing  need.  He  importuned  the  Superior 
of  the  Jesuits  in  Maryland,  on  whom  he  felt  he  had 
some  claim ;  he  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  asking 
for  Rev.  Mr.  Holmes  as  a  native  of  his  diocese,  and 
used  efforts  to  induce  clergymen  whom  he  knew  per- 
sonally to  come  to  the  aid  of  souls  in  New  England. 

The  faith  was  extending,  in  spite  of  the  paucity  of 
priests.  Mass  was  said  in  New  Haven  at  the  corner 
of  Chapel  and  Chestnut  streets,  and  the  Catholics  in 
Vermont  were  attended  from  Plattsburg. 

The  following  will  show  the  number  and  the  stations 
of  the  clergymen  doing  duty  in  the  diocese  at  the 
close  of  the  year  1828  : 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Fenwick  in  Boston,  assisted  by 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Byrne  and  Wiley. 

Rev.  Virgil  H.  Barber,  Indian  Old  Town  on  the 
Penobscot,  charged  also  with  the  mission  at  Claremont, 
N.  H.  Rev.  James  Fitton,  Pleasant  Point,  Passama- 
quoddy,  Me.  Rev.  Charles  Ffrench,  Portland,  Me., 
also  charged  with  the  missions  of  Dover,  N.  H.,  Saco, 
Me.,  and  Eastport,  Me.  Rev.  Dennis  Ryan,  White- 
field,  Me.,  also  charged  with  Newcastle  and  Gardi- 
ner, Me.  Rev.  Robert  D.  Woodley,  Providence,  R.I., 
also  charged  with  the  mission  at  Newport,  and  Paw- 
tucket,  R.  I. 

There  was  thus  activity  in  all  parts  of  his  diocese. 
The  impulse  was  given  and  was  maintained,  in  the 
early  days  of  the  year  1829,  when  we  find  Bishop  Fen- 
wick again  ordaining,  raising  to  the  holy  dignity  of 
the  priesthood  Rev.  William  Tyler,  destined  to  be 
in  the  designs  of  Providence  first  Bishop  of  Hartford, 
and  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  J.  O' Flaherty,  adding  wings  to 


STATE  OF  DIOCESE.  159 

the  Convent,  dedicating  the  brick  church  at  Charles- 
town,  a  fine  edifice  capable  of  holding  a  thousand 
persons,  and  hiying  the  foundation  of  a  church  at 
Pawtucket/  At  this  time  he  reckoned  the  Catholics 
in  Boston  at  7040,  the  yearly  baptisms  being  536. 
There  were  probably  14,000  Catholics,  eight  priests,  and 
sixteen  cliurches  in  New  England,  public  halls  and  un- 
used buildings  being  employed  in  other  places  for  the 
holy  sacrifice.  Much  had  been  already  accomplished 
for  "the  Christian  education  of  the  young.  There  were 
two  schools  in  Boston,  a  classical  one  for  boys  and  an 
academy  for  girls,  tw^o  in  Charlestown,  one  at  Lechmere 
Point,  one  at  Lowell,  a  classical  sem.inary  at  Hartford, 
and  some  smaller  ones,  and  the  Indian  school  at  Ban- 
gor, under  Father  Virgil  H.  Barber,  while  the  Ursu- 
lines  afforded  the  highest  education  for  young  ladies. 

The  school  at  the  Cathedral,  Boston,  was  directed 
by  ecclesiastics  whom  Bishop  Fenwick  educated  in 
his  ow^n  house  in  philosophy  and  theology,  till  he 
found  means  to  place  four  others  at  the  Sulpitian 
Seminary,  in  Montreal. 

On  the  5th  of  September,  1829,  appeared  the  first 
number  of  the  newspaper  founded  by  Bishop  Fenwick, 
and  which  boldly  took  the  name  of  "  The  Jesuit." 

The  progress  of  the  Church  had  excited  bitter  feel- 
ings among  ignorant  and  misguided  men.  Houses  of 
Catholics  on  Broad  Street,  Boston,  were  attacked  for 
three  successive  nights,  the  windows  broken,  and  the 
inmates  menaced  by  the  stones  hurled  in  upon  them.^ 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  diocese  when  Bishop 
Fenwick  set  out  to  meet  his  Metropolitan  and  fellow- 
suffragans  in  a  provincial  council. 

'  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoirs  to  serve,"  etc. 

=  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  156  ;  Annalesde  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  iv.,  p.  713. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

EIGHT    REV.   RICHARD    LUKE    CONCANEN,   O.S.D.,  FIRST  BISHOP; 
VERY  REV.  ANTHONY  KOHLMANN,  S.J.,  ADMINISTRATOR, 

1808-1815. 

The  diocese  of  New  York  was  erected  on  the  8th  of 
April,  1808,  by  his  Holiness  Pope  Pius  VII., ^  and  com- 
prised the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  eastern  i)art  of 
New  Jersey  contiguous  to  New  York.  For  this  newly 
erected  see  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  selected  Father 
Richard  Luke  Concanen  of  the  Order  of  St.  Dominic, 
Archbishop  Carroll  having  been  unable  to  propose 
any  one  whom  he  deemed  fitted  for  the  task  of  organ- 
izing the  church  in  the  important  State  of  New  York. 
Bishop  Concanen  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  but  Avas  sent 
early  in  life  to  the  Dominican  Convent  of  the  Holy 
Cross  in  Lorraine,  where  he  made  his  novitiate  :  after 
a  thorough  course  of  study  at  St.  Mary's  'supra  Mi- 
nervam  '  in  Rome,  he  acquired  distinction  for  his  learn- 
ing and  ability.  He  filled  successively  the  positions 
of  professor  of  theology  at  St.  Clement's  in  Rome, 
prior  of  the  Corpo  Santo  convent,  Lisbon,  and  prior 
of  St.  Clement's.  His  selection  as  theologus  Casana- 
tensis  and  librarian  at  the  Minerva,  attests  the  solidity 
of  his  learning,  a  place  in  the  foundation  created  by 
Cardinal  Casanate  being  assigned  only  to  the  highest 


>  Bull  "  Ex  Debito,"  April  8,  1808.   Bullarium  Romanum,  xiii.,  p.  282. 
BuUarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  iv.,  p.  339. 

160 


DIFFICULTIES.  161 

merit.^  Acting  as  agent  for  the  Irish  bishops  he  was 
well  known  in  'his  native  island,  and  was  appointed  to 
the  See  of  Kilmacduagh,  but  declined  the  honor.  He 
was  personally  known  to  Pope  Pius  VII.,  who  es- 
teemed him  highly.  Soon  after  his  appointment  he 
was  stricken  down  by  illness,  and  his  death  was  re- 
garded as  certain.  In  fact  another  Dominican  Father, 
John  Connolly,  then  in  Rome,  was  notified  that  the 
bulls  would  be  issued  for  his  consecration.  Bishop 
Concanen  recovered,  however,  and,  though  reluctant 
to  accept  the  dignity,  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  New 
York,  April  24,  1808,  by  his  Eminence  Cardinal  di 
Pietro  with  two  archbishops  as  assistants.  He  at 
once  began  to  prepare  for  the  work  before  him  in  his 
diocese  ;  one  of  his  plans  was  to  found  a  house  of 
religious,  Franciscan  or  Dominican,  in  New  York,  to 
direct  a  college  for  young  men,  and  he  obtained  from 
zealous  friends  books,  vestments,  and  other  articles  for 
his  future  flock.  After  receiving  from  the  Sovereign 
Pontiif  the  pallium  for  Archbishop  Carroll,  with  the 
bulls  erecting  Baltimore  into  an  archiepiscopal  see, 
and  establishing  the  bishoprics  of  Boston,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Bardstown,  and  other  important 
documents.  Bishop  Concanen  set  out  for  Leghorn, 
Avhere  he  intended  to  embark  for  America.  To  his 
disappointment  he  found  all  American  vessels  seques- 
tered by  the  French  authorities,  to  whom  as  a  British 
subject  he  was  an  object  of  suspicion.  As  the  time 
of  his  departure  had  become  uncertain,  he  empowered 
Archbishop  Carroll  to  appoint  an  Administrator  of 
the  diocese  during  his  absence,  and  Dr.  Carroll  sent 
to  New  York  the  learned  and  capable  Jesuit  Father 

'  Bayley.  "  A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  on 
the  Island  of  New  York,"  New  York,  1853,  pp.  53-5  ;  Treacy,  "  Irish 
Scholars  of  the  Penal  Days,"  New  York,  p.  104. 


162       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Anthony  Kolilmann,  there  being  no  priest  attending 
the  Catholics  there  except  Rev.  John  Byrne,  who  was 
anxious  to  withdraw.^  Bishop  Concanen,  after  four 
months'  stay  at  Leghorn  and  Locanda,  returned  to 
Rome,  where  lie  was  actively  engaged  till  1810.  He 
then  made  another  attempt  to  reach  New  York  by 
way  of  Naples.  By  the  good  offices  of  the  American 
Consul  he  secured  passage  on  a  vessel  bound  for 
Salem  ;  his  passports  were  obtained,  and  he  was  about 
to  embark,  when  the  French  police  forbade  him  to 
leave  the  city.  The  shock  threw  the  aged  bishop  into 
a  fever  :  he  expired  on  the  19th  of  June,  1810,  and  on 
the  following  day  was  solemnly  buried  in  the  vaults 
of  the  Church  of  San  Domenico  Maggiore. 

The  management  of  the  diocese  of  New  York  de- 
volved on  Father  Anthony  Kohlmann,  S.J.,  as  Admin- 
istrator sede  vacante.  His  ajopointment  and  the  j)res- 
ence  of  several  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  had 
already  given  umbrage  to  Bishop  Concanen,  but  un- 
conscious of  this  and  looking  only  to  the  good  of  the 
Church,  the  Administrator  had  gone  on  zealously. 
On  his  arrival  in  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1808  he 
had  found  the  congregation  of  St.  Peter's  estimated 
at  14,000  souls,  chiefly  Irish,  with  some  hundreds  of 
French  and  Germans,  but  sadly  neglected.  With 
Father  Fenwick  he  set  to  work  to  revive  a  sense  of 
religion  in  their  hearts.  Sermons  in  English,  French, 
and  German  were  given  every  Sunday  ;  three  cate- 
chism classes  were  established,  the  confessionals 
were  regularly  attended.  The  improvement  was  at 
once  apparent.  The  deserted  communion  rail  was 
filled,  pious  confraternities  were  erected  and  zealously 
entered. 


'  Archbishop  Carroll  to  Rev.  J.  Byrne,  Jan.   10,  1805  ;  to  Rev.  F.  A. 
Kohlmann,  Aug.  15,  1808. 


A  CATHEDRAL  BEGUN.  163 

The  New  York  Literary  Institution  was  soon  opened 
and  frequented  by  the  sons  of  the  best  families  in  New 
York,  Catholic  and  Protestant.  Its  success  was  so 
manifest  that  it  was  soon  removed  to  the  site  of  the 
present  Cathedral  on  Fifth  Avenue,  where  a  mansion 
with  gardens  and  orchard  was  secured.^ 

About  this  time  Fathers  Kohlmann  and  Fenwick 
were  induced  by  a  convert  to  call  upon  Thomas  Paine, 
and  they  went  in  the  hope  of  leading  him  to  acknowl- 
edge his  error  in  attacking  the  existence  of  God  and 
the  truth  of  revelation.  They  could  make  no  impres- 
sion on  the  hardened  mind  and  heart.  A  friend  of 
Paine,  a  fellow  unbeliever,  and  a  painter  of  some 
ability,  caricatured  the  zealous  priests,  in  a  most  dis- 
graceful manner.^ 

Finding  a  second  church  imperatively  needed,  the 
Administrator  induced  the  Trustees  of  St.  Peter's 
Church  to  purchase  a  large  plot  of  ground  between 
Broadway  and  the  Bowerj'-  Road,  in  what  was  then  the 
outskirts  of  the  city.  Here  on  the  8tli  of  June,  1809, 
he  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a  Cathedral  for  the  ex- 
pected Bishop.  At  the  suggestion  of  Archbishop 
Carroll  he  dedicated  the  new  edifice  to  St.  Patrick. 
The  Avork  of  building  was  at  once  commenced,  but 
languished  after  a  time. 

Having  provided  for  the  education  of  young  men, 
the  next  thought  of  the  energetic  administrator  was  to 
secure  like  advantages  for  the  other  sex.  He  applied 
through  Father  Betagh,  a  famous  Irish  Jesuit,  for 
Ursuline  nuns  of  the  Blackrock  Convent,  Cork,  and 

'  Father  A.  Kohlmann  to  F.  William  Strickland,  Nov.  7,  1808.  Wood- 
stock Letters,  iv.,  p.  143;  March  21,  1809.  De  Courcy,  "Catholic 
Church  in  the  United  States,"  p.  366. 

'  Bishop  B.  J.  Fenwick  to  his  brother.  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  v. ,  p. 
558.     Philobiblion,  i.,  p.  206. 


164       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Aiml  7,  1812,  Mother  Mary  Anne  Fagan,  Superior, 
arrived  at  New  York,  with  Sisters  Frances  de  Chantal 
Walsh  and  Mary  Paul  Baldwin.  A  pleasantly  sit- 
uated house  was  obtained  for  them,  and  they  opened 
an  academy  which  soon  had  many  pupils.  A  poor 
school  was  also  established.  This  establishment  was 
greatly  aided  by  Mr.  Stephen  Jumel.^ 

An  orphan  asylum  was  the  next  project  of  Very  Rev. 
Father  Kohlmann.  Meanwhile  he  sent  Father  Fen- 
wick  from  time  to  time  to  attend  Albany  and  other 
outlying  missions,  and  in  compliance  with  the  request 
of  Archbishop  Carroll  endeavored  to  induce  the  trus- 
tees to  make  a  suitable  provision  for  the  coming 
Bishop. 

Amid  all  his  plans  came  the  tidings  of  the  death  of 
Bishop  Concanen  at  Naples.  He  at  once  caused  a 
solemn  funeral  service  to  be  performed  in  St.  Peter's 
Church  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.^ 

In  1812  Fathers  Malou,  Wouters,  and  Paul  Kohl- 
mann came  to  his  assistance. 

It  was  generally  expected  that  the  Rev.  Ambrose 
Marechal,  whom  Bishop  Concanen  had  recommended 

'  F.  Anthony  Kohlmann  to  F.  William  Strickland,  Sept.  14,  Nov.  28, 
1810  ;  the  Convent  was  incorporated  by  the  State,  March  20,  1814. 
The  Sisters  at  first  supposed  the  house  to  be  a  gift  from  Mr.  Jumel,  but 
he  required  two-thirds  of  its  value.  As  no  novices  joined  them  the 
Community  was  unable  to  raise  the  $2000  required.  Mother  Mary  Anne 
Fagan  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  June  2,  1813. 

-  "The  sanctuary,  the  whole  altar,  all  the  curtains  were  in  black. 
The  bier  elegantly  fixed,  covered  and  surrounded  by  all  the  badges  of 
the  episcopal  dignity,  such  as  the  mitre,  crosier,  etc.;  a  high  mass  with 
deacon  and  sub-deacon,  accompanied  with  musical  instruments,  cele- 
brated and  a  funeral  sermon  on  the  episcopal  dignity  delivered  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Fenwick  to  an  audience  so  numerous  as  has  scarce  ever  been  seen 
before  in  any  church."  F.  A.  Kohlmann  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Oct.  12, 
1810. 


V.  REV.  A.  KOHLMANN,  ADMR.  165 

as  his  coadjutor,  would  be  appointed  to  the  see  of 
New  York  ;  but  it  became  known  apparently  to  the 
Superior  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  that  the  appointment 
and  labors  of  Father  Kohlmann  had  been  distasteful 
to  the  late  Bishop,  and  when  in  1814  it  was  announced 
that  the  see  of  New  York  would  be  conferred  on 
Father  John  Connolly  of  the  same  order,  and  influ- 
enced by  the  same  feelings,  it  was  decided  by  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  who  found  it  very  difficult  to  main- 
tain the  college,  to  withdraw  from  that  diocese.  The 
New  York  Institution  was  closed ;  the  learned  Mr. 
Wallace,  who  had  published  a  valuable  astronomical 
work,^  and  Mr.  Grace,  a  talented  classical  and  general 
scholar,  returned  to  Maryland,  soon  to  labor  as  i)riests 
in  the  missions  and  colleges  of  their  order. 

Before  this  the  Administrator  was  drawn  into  public 
notice  by  a  law  case  which,  to  the  honor  of  American 
jurisprudence,  decided  on  the  broad  grounds  of  natural 
justice  and  equity  the  rights  of  a  Catholic  priest  in 
regard  to  the  confessional.  A  man  and  his  wife  were 
indicted  for  receiving  stolen  goods,  but  before  trial  the 
owner  of  the  property  acknowledged  that  he  had 
received  his  property  back  from  the  hands  of  Rev. 
Anthony  Kohlmann.  The  clergyman  was  subpoenaed 
to  appear  at  the  trial  as  a  witness  against  the  supposed 
thieves  and  these  accused  as  receivers.  When  called 
to  the  witness  box  Rev.  Mr.  Kohlmann  asked  to  be 
excused  from  answering,  and  said:  "Were  I  sum- 
moned to  give  evidence  as  a  private  individual  (in 
which  capacity  I  declare  most  solemnly,  I  know  noth- 
ing relative  to  the  case  before  the  courts),  and  to  testify 


'  "  A  New  Treatise  on  the  Use  of  the  Globes,  and  Practical  Astro n- 
onty,"  by  James  Wallace,  Member  of  the  New  York  Literary  Institu- 
tion.    New  York,  1813,  512  pp. 


166       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

from  those  ordinary  sources  of  information  from  which 
the  witnesses  present  have  derived  theirs,  I  should 
not  for  a  moment  hesitate,  and  should  even  deem  it  a 
duty  of  conscience  to  declare  whatever  knowledge  I 

might  have" "  but  if  called  upon  to  testify  in 

quality  of  a  minister  of  a  sacrament,  in  which  my  God 
himself  has  enjoined  on  me  a  perpetual  and  inviolable 
secresy,  I  must  declare  to  this  honorable  court,  that  I 
cannot,  I  must  not  answer  any  question  that  has  a 
bearing  upon  the  restitution  in  question  ;  and  that  it 
would  be  my  duty  to  prefer  instantaneous  death  or 
any  temporal  misfortune,  rather  than  disclose  the 
name  of  the  penitent  in  question.  For,  were  I  to  act 
otherwise,  I  should  become  a  traitor  to  my  church,  to 
my  sacred  ministry,  and  to  my  God.  In  fine,  I  should 
render  myself  guilty  of  eternal  damnation."  .... 
"  The  question  now  before  the  court  is  this:  Whether 
a  Roman  Catholic  priest  can  in  any  case  be  justifiable 
in  revealing  the  secrets  of  sacramental  confession  ?  I 
say  he  cannot ;  the  reason  whereof  must  be  obvious  to 
every  one  acquainted  with  the  tenets  of  the  Catholic 
Church  respecting  the  sacraments."  He  then  pro- 
ceeded to  explain  the  tenets  of  the  Church,  and  showed 
to  what  disabilities  a  violation  of  its  laws  would  sub- 
ject him. 

Mr.  Riker,  a  Protestant  lawyer,  was  allowed  to  argue 
the  case  in  behalf  of  Father  Kohlmann.  The  district 
attorney,  Mr.  Gardinier,  relied  mainly  on  the  fact 
that  no  such  right  as  was  claimed  was  recognized 
by  the  constitution  of  the  State.  William  Samp- 
son, a  brilliant  advocate,  reviewed  at  length  the 
English  and  Irish  cases,  and  argued  that  they  could 
not  be  considered  precedents  for  this  country,  where 
freedom  of  worship  Avas  guaranteed.  The  court 
through  the  Hon.  DeWitt  Clinton,  who  presided,  care- 


THE  CONFESSIONAL  IN  COURT.  167 

fully  reviewed  the  whole  case  and  decided  that  a 
priest  could  not  be  called  upon  to  testify  as  to  matters 
which  he  knew  only  through  the  confessional.  "  We 
speak  of  this  question,"  he  said,  "  not  in  a  theological 
sense,  but  in  its  legal  and  constitutional  bearings. 
Although  we  differ  from  the  witness  and  his  brethren, 
in  our  religious  creed,  yet  we  have  no  reason  to  ques- 
tion the  purity  of  their  motives,  or  to  impeach  their 
good  Conduct  as  citizens.  They  are  protected  by  the 
laws  and  constitution  of  this  country  in  the  full  and 
free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and  this  court  can  never 
countenance  or  authorize  the  application  of  insult  to 
their  faith,  or  of  torture  to  their  consciences."  Samp- 
son published  a  report   of  the  case  under  the  title : 

"The  Catholic  Question  in  America Whether 

a  Roman  Catholic  clergyman  be  in  any  case  compell- 
able to  disclose  the  secrets  of  Auricular  Confession  " 
(New  York  :  Edward  Gillespy,  1813).  To  this  Father 
Kohlmann  appended  an  elaborate  treatise,  "A  True 
Exposition  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church 
touching  the  Sacrament  of  Penance,  with  the  grounds 
on  which  this  doctrine  is  founded." 

The  novelty  of  the  question  caused  the  book  to  be 
widely  read,  and  the  justice  of  the  decision  has  been 
universally  admitted.  The  exposition  of  Father  Kohl- 
mann caused  several  Protestant  writers  to  endeavor  to 
weaken  its  force.  Among  others  the  apostate  Charles 
H.  Wharton  issued  a  reply.  Father  Kohlmann  would 
not  enter  the  arena  of  controversy  ;  he  left  his  own 
calm  and  learned  treatise  to  exercise  its  influence  ; 
but  the  Rev.  S.  F,  O' Gallagher  of  Charleston  issued 
a  reply  to  Wharton.^ 

'  S.  F.  O'Gallagher,  "  A  Brief  Reply  to  a  Short  Answer  to  a  True  Ex- 
position of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Cliurch  touching  the  Sacrament 
of  Penance  "  ;  New  York,  1815. 


168       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

About  the  beginning  of  tlie  year  1815,  Father 
Anthony  Kohlmann  was  ordered  by  the  General  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus  to  return  to  Maryland  and  assume 
the  position  of  master  of  novices.  Archbishop  Carroll 
greatly  regretted  the  step,  but  it  seemed  unavoidable. 
Father  Kohlmann  left  New  York  before  the  month  of 
April,  virtually  ceasing  to  be  Administrator  of  the 
diocese.^  Of  the  zealous  members  of  the  Society 
who  had  at  times  shared  his  labors  in  New  York  only 
Fathers  Benedict  Fenwick  and  Peter  Malou  re- 
mained. The  Ursuline  nuns,  having  received  no 
novices,  and  seeing  the  diocese  without  a  head,  closed 
their  convent  and  academy  in  the  spring  of  1816,  and 
after  long  detention  at  Halifax  reached  Cork.^ 

Meanwhile  Father  Benedict  Fenwick  was  left, 
though  without  any  authority,  to  manage  the  affairs 
of  the  New  York  diocese  till  the  arrival  of  Rt.  Rev. 
John  Connolly,  O.S.D.,  who  was  nominated  in  1814 
and  consecrated  at  Rome  on  the  6tli  of  November,  but 
who  did  not  land  in  New  York  for  nearly  a  year,  hold- 
ing in  the  mean  while  no  communication  with  his 
Metropolitan  or  his  diocese.^ 

Father  Fenwick  was  aided  for  a  time  by  the  Trap- 
pists,  who  took  np  their  abode  in  the  late  residence  of 
the  Jesuits  ;  they  opened  an  asylum,  where  they  soon 
had  thirty-three  children,  nearly  all  orphans.  A 
house  of  Trappist  nuns  was  formed,  and  the  Fathers 
attended  also  the  Ursuline  Convent.  All  was  so  peace- 
ful and  encouraging  that  the  Abbot  Dom  Augustine 
de   r  Estrange   even   celebrated  the   feast  of   Corpus 

'  F.  John  Grassi  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  April  7,  1815  ;  U.  S.  Catholic 
Hist.  Mag.,  iii.,  p>  321. 

^  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  May  22,  1815. 

^  "  Life  and  Times  of  Arclibishop  Carroll,"  p.  666. 


DEDICATION. 


169 


Christi  by  an  out-door  procession  and  benediction  ; 
but  the  restless  abbot  would  not  remain  anywhere. 
He  embarked  in  the  autumn  of  1814  with  nearly  all 
the  monks  and  the  Avhole  sisterhood,  Father  Vincent 
de  Paul  following  with  the  rest  in  May,  1815/ 

5'ather  Fenwick  urged  on  the  completion   of  the 
Cathedral,  which  had  been  delayed  by  a  variety  of 


ST.  PATRICK'S  CATHEDRAL,  NEW  YORK,  DEDICATED  MAY  4,  1815. 

circumstances,  and  succeeded  so  that  Ascension  day, 
May  4,  1815,  was  fixed  for  its  dedication.  For  this 
interesting  ceremony  he  invited  the  kindly  Bishop  of 


1  "  Relation  de  ce  qui  est  arrive  a  deux  Religieux  de  la  Trappe,"  etc., 
Paris  1824,  pp.  17-25;  Gaillardin,  "  Les  Trappistes  ou  I'Ordre  de  Citeaux 
au  xix.  sificle,"  Paris,  1853,  ii.,  p.  336.  The  first  party  sailed  on  the 
Fingal,  Oct.  20,  1814.  Rev.  A.  Kolilmaun  to  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute,  Nov.  3, 
1814. 


170       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

JBoston.  In  the  uncertainty  prevailing  as  to  the  time 
of  the  arrival  of  a  newly  appointed  Bishop  of  New 
York,  Dr.  Cheverus  consented  to  officiate.  The  pro- 
cession to  the  church  included  not  only  the  Bishop 
and  such  clergymen  as  could  attend,  but  also  the 
Mayor  and  Aldermen  of  the  city  and  the  Trustees  of 
St.  Peter's  and  St.  Patrick's  churches.  Between  three 
and  four  thousand  people  filled  the  interior  of  what 
was  at  the  time  the  most  imposing  church  in  New 
York  city.^  "  Besides  the  three  Fathers  here,"  wrote 
Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  ' '  we  had 
with  us  Father  Maleve  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pasquiet.  I 
dedicated  the  church  in  the  same  manner  that  you  did 
in  Boston.  We  all  did  our  best  to  make  this  a  truly 
imposing  ceremony.  The  Fathers  desire  that  all  the 
rites  prescribed  in  the  Pontifical  may  be  performed. 
I  shall  go  through  with  them  to-morrow,  privatim  et 
januis  clausis."  * 

The  Bishop  of  Boston  remained  till  Whitsunday  in 
order  to  confirm  the  large  number  of  Catholics  who 
had  been  prepared  for  the  reception  of  the  sacrament. 
While  he  was  still  in  New  York  tidings  arrived  that 
a  bishop  had  actually  been  consecrated  for  that  see. 
Expecting,  naturally,  that  Dr.  Connolly  would  arrive 
in  a  short  time,  Bishop  Cheverus  expressed  his  regret 
at  having  yielded  to  the  entreaties  of  Father  Fenwick, 
but  as  events  proved  the  Bishop  of  New  York  did  not 
arrive  till  near  the  end  of  the  year.^ 
•  Bishop  Plessis  of  Quebec,  who  was  in  New  York  in 
September,  1815,  speaks  of  the  new  cathedral  as  "at 
the  extremity  of  the  city,  towards  the  country.  It 
has  already  cost  $90,000,"  he  adds,  "but  has  yet  no 

.  '  New  York  Gazette,  May  5,  1815. 
*  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  May  9,  May  11,  1815. 


DEDICATION.  171 

steei)le,  or  sacristy,  or  enclosure,  or  annexed  buildings. 
Outside  there  is  no  rough-casting  or  penciled  joints, 
although  the  very  ordinary  stone  of  which  it  is  built 
requires  both.  To  make  up  for  this,  the  interior  is 
magnificent.  Six  tall  clustered  columns  on  each  side 
dividing  the  whole  body  of  the  church  into  three 
naves,  surmounted  by  gothic  arches,  form  a  sight  all 
the  more  imposing,  as  a  painter  has  designed  on  the 
flat  rear  wall  terminating  the  edifice  behind  the  altar 
a  continuation  of  these  arches  and  columns,  that  form 
a  distant  perspective  and  produce  a  vivid  illusion  on 
strangers,  not  warned  in  advance,  giving  them  at  first 
the  impression  that  the  altar  stands  midway  in  the 
length  of  the  church,  when  in  reality  it  touches  the 
wall. 

"The  effect  produced  by  this  perspective  makes 
this  church  pass  for  the  finest  in  the  the  United  States. 
It  is  also  remarkable  for  the  size  of  the  windows,  the 
elegance  of  the  two  galleries,  one  above  the  other, 
symmetrical  staircases  leading  to  the  organ  over  the 
main  entrance.  The  pews  occupying  the  nave  leave 
three  spacious  aisles,  and  are  capped  all  around  with 
mahogany.  It  is  intended  to  be  the  Bishop's  cathe- 
dral, but  the  sanctuary  is  not  at  all  adapted  for  plac- 
ing his  throne,  or  for  the  performance  of  episcopal 
functions."  ^ 

A  Catholic  event  of  the  year  1815  was  the  establish- 
ment of  "  The  Roman  Catholic  Benevolent  Society," 
which  was  soon  incorporated  ;  its  object  being  to  raise 
means  annually  for  the  support  of  an  orphan  asylupi- 
The  Society  still  continues  its  good  work.^ 

1  "Relation  d'un  Voyage  aux  Etats  Unis,  par  Mgr.  Joseph  Octave 
Plessis,  Evgque  de  Quebec,  en  1815,"  which  I  owe  to  Rev.  J.  Sasseville. 


2  Truth  Teller,  v.,  p.  349. 


CHAPTER  X. 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  YORK. 
THE  RIGHT  REV.   JOHN  CONNOLLY,  SECOND  BISHOP,  1814-1825. 

John  Connolly  was  born  in  1750  in  the  parish  of 
Monknewtown.  After  studying  in  his  native  place 
and  Drogheda,  he  sought  admission  into  tlie  Domini- 
can order,  and  about  1766  was  sent  to  Liege,  where  he 
seems  to  have  remained  some  years  and  to  have  won 
the  attachment  of  many.  He  was  then  sent  to  Rome 
and  completed  his  studies.     After  his  ordination  he 

8IGKATUBE  OP  JOHN   CONNOLLY,    BISHOP  OF  NEVf  YORK. 

became  the  agent  and  corresi^ondent  of  the  Irish 
bishops.  He  was  in  Rome  when  the  French,  in  1798, 
seized  the  Pope  and  declared  the  temporal  power 
abolished.  Seeing  the  increasing  difficulty  of  commu- 
nicating with  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  he  obtained  in 
season  an  extension  of  the  faculties  of  the  Irish  bishops 
for  a  number  of  years.  He  labored  earnestly  to  delay 
the  seizure  of  the  English,  Irish,  and  Scotch  colleges, 
and  kept  the  matter  in  abeyance  till  the  arrival  of 
Nelson's  fleet  at  Naples  made  Rome  untenable  by  the 
French.     Father  Connolly  had,  by  offering   to  serve 

172 


THE   RIGHT   REV.    JOHN   CONNOLLY,    SECOND  BISHOP  OF  NEW  YORK. 


173 


BISHOP  CONNOLLY'S  DELAY,  '        175 

gratuitously  as  chaplain  and  confessor,  induced  the 
French  authorities  to  spare  the  Dominican  church  and 
convent,  and  at  some  outlay  saved  the  library  and 
furniture.^ 

As  already  noted,  he  was  thought  of  for  the  see  of 
New  York  when  the  death  of  Father  Concanen  seemed 
imminent,  and  the  seizure  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  and 
suspension  of  the  work  of  the  Propaganda  alone  pre- 
vented his  appointment  as  successor.  Meanwhile  he 
had  been  appointed  Theologus  Casanatensis  and  Secre- 
tary to  the  General.^  He  was  nominated  Bishop  of 
New  York  in  1814,  being  at  the  time  Prior  of  St. 
Clement's,  and  was  consecrated  Bishop  on  the  6th  of 
November.  He  remained  some  time  in  Rome,  and  on 
the  first  of  February  announced  his  departure  about 
the  middle  of  that  month,  but  added  :  "I  am  to  delay 
about  a  month  in  the  diocese  of  Liege,  where  I  am 
pressingly  requested  by  the  Yicar  of  the  Chapter  of 
that  city,  to  arrive  for  Holy  Week,  in  order  to  conse- 
crate the  holy  oils  and  afterwards  to  administer  the 
sacrament  of  confirmation  in  different  parts  of  that 
vast  diocese,  now  many  years  without  a  bishop.  I 
hope  to  have,  before  the  middle  of  May,  the  happiness 
of  waiting  on  your  lordship  at  Navan,"  he  wrote  to 
Bishop  Plunket.^    The  United   States  and  England 

'  Cogan,  "  The  Diocese  of  Meath  Ancient  and  Modern,"  Dublin,  1870, 
iii.,  p.  543;  F.  John  Connolly  to  Bishop  Plunket,  Feb.  24,  Nov.  10, 
1796  ;  Feb.  17,  March,  1798,  Jan.  18,  1800,  Feb.  28,  1801,  Oct.  6,  1804, 
Feb.  22,  1806.     lb.,  pp.  205-357. 

» F.  John  Connolly  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  April  12,  1810. 

^  Cogan,  iii.,  p.  411.  The  Bishop  of  Liege,  Mgr.  Zoepfel,  died  Oct. 
17,  1808,  and  the  see  remained  vacant  till  1829.  The  Vicar  Capitular 
Barrett  applied  to  the  government,  April  15,  27,  1815,  for  permission  to 
have  Bishop  Connolly  perform  episcopal  acts.  Letter  of  William  S. 
Preston,  Consul  at  Liege. 


176       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

had  been  at  war,  and  until  peace  was  signed,  Bishop 
Connolly  did  not  venture  to  come  to  the  United  States 
for  fear  of  being  treated  as  an  alien  enemy,  being  a 
British  subject.  Had  he  been  able  to  reach  his  diocese 
at  once  after  his  consecration,  valuable  institutions 
might  have  been  retained. 

After  laboring  in  the  diocese  of  Liege  and  visiting 
Ireland,  where  he  seems  to  have  secured  some  priests 
for  his  diocese,  he  embarked  at  Dublin  on  the  ship 
Sally,  which  was  so  delayed  by  storms  that  it  did  not 
reach  New  York  till  about  the  24th  of  November, 
when  in  fact  it  was  generally  given  up  as  lost,^  The 
hardships  of  the  voyage  brought  on  a  cough  and  cold 
which  prevented  the  Bishop  from  proceeding  at  once 
to  Baltimore,  but  the  death  of  Archbishop  Carroll, 
about  a  week  later,  prevented  his  ever  beholding  the 
founder  of  the  American  hierarchy.^  Bishop  Cheverus 
interrupted  the  funeral  services  for  the  Archbishop  at 
Boston  to  come  to  New  York  and  install  Bishop  Con- 
nolly in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral.^ 

On  taking  possession  of  his  diocese,  Bishop  Connolly 
found  the  estimated  Catholic  population  to  be  thirteen 
thousand,  all  but  two  thousand  being  of  Irish  birth 
or  descent.  His  whole  body  of  clergy  consisted  of 
Fathers  Benedict  Fenwick,  Peter  Malou  and  Maximil- 
ian Rantzau  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  the  Domini- 
can Father  Thomas  Carbry,  whom  he  knew  as  a 
student  at  the  Minerva.  Not  long  before  the  coming 
of  the  Bishop,  the  Rev.  Micliael  Carroll  arrived,  but 

•  Bishop  Connolly  to  Cardinal  Litta,  Feb.  25,  1818  ;  abstract  of  same 
in  Bay  ley,  p.  70-1. 

^  Bishop  Connolly  to  Archbishop  Neale,  Dec.  7,  1815.  Shamrock,  ii., 
p.  75. 

^Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Neale,  Dec.  11,  1815. 


STATE  OF  THE  DIOCESE.  177 

had  not  yet  been  assigned  to  duty.  The  Rev.  Michael 
O' Gorman,  whom  Bishop  Connolly  seems  to  have 
ordained  in  Ireland,  accompanied  him  or  came  soon 
after.  In  a  short  time  Father  Rantzau  returned  to 
Maryland,  and  early  in  the  following  year  Rev.  Mr. 
Fenwick  followed.  Bishop  Connolly  beheld  with  no 
little  consternation  the  penury  of  the  diocese  and  the 
loss  of  institutions  which  encouragement  might  have 
preserved.  He  appealed  to  Rev.  Father  John  Grassi, 
Superior  of  the  Jesuits,  to  restore  Father  Fenwick  to 
him,  and  expressed  his  grief  at  the  closing  of  the  New 
York  Literary  Institution. 

He  was  obliged  to  be  Bishop,  parish  priest  and  cur- 
ate, labor  in  the  confessional,  and  attend  the  sick  at 
all  hours  of  the  day  and  night.  Accustomed  for  years 
to  the  climate  of  Rome,  the  severe  winter  in  America 
proved  very  trying. 

In  the  spring  he  visited  Albany  to  revive  religion 
there,  and  instruct  old  and  young  for  the  reception  of 
the  sacraments,  the  Rev.  Paul  McQuade  having  left 
that  charge  some  time  before,  so  that  the  faithful 
had  been  without  a  priest.^ 

Catholics  were,  however,  pouring  into  New  York, 
most  of  them,  indeed,  to  scatter  through  the  country, 
but  enough  remaining  in  the  diocese  to  require  con- 
stant effort  on  the  part  of  the  Bishop  to  find  priests. 
At  the  instance  of  trustees  in  New  York  and  Albany, 
he  wrote  to  clergymen  in  Ireland  whom  they  desired, 
but  this  plan  failed.  For  a  long  time  he  had  but  two 
priests  with  him  to  attend  the  Catholics  in  New  York 
city.^ 

He  sent  Rev.  Mr.  O' Gorman  to  Albany,  charged  also 

'  Shamrock,  Dec.  2,  1815  ;  Bishop  Connolly  to  Cardinal  Litta,  Feb.  25, 
1818  ;  to  F.  John  Grassi,  July  1,  1816  ;  to  Bishop  Plessis,  June  7,  1816. 
5  Bishop  Connolly  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Oct.  23,  1817. 


178       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

with  the  outlying  missions  in  the  northern  and  central 
parts  of  New  York  State ;  and  that  kiborious  priest 
entered  zealously  on  his  duties.  After  visiting  Balti- 
more in  1817  to  take  part  in  the  consecration  of  Arch- 
bishop Marechal,  the  Bishop  received  into  his  diocese 
the  Rev.  Arthur  Langdill,  who  was  appointed  to  the 
missions  outside  of  New  York  and  Albany,  and  dur- 
ing the  winter  he  received  also  the  Rev.  William 
Taylor,  and  early  in  the  following  year  the  Rev. 
Father  Charles  D.  Ffrench,  a  member  of  his  own 
Dominican  order.  These  last  accessions,  however, 
brouglit  division,  rather  than  strength,  to  the  diocese. 
The  Trustees  found  themselves  unable  to  meet  the 
expenses  of  the  two  churches,  St,  Peter's  and  St. 
Patrick's,  the  annual  interest  was  a  heavy  drain,  and 
there  Avere  times  when  they  informed  the  Bishop  that 
there  were  no  funds  to  pay  him  his  salary.  Discon- 
tent followed  ;  and  the  Catholics  of  New  York  were 
soon  divided  into  parties  ;  one  side  favored  the  Bishop, 
Fathers  Ffrench  and  Carbry  ;  the  other  the  Trustees 
and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Malou  and  Taylor.  Acts  giving 
separate  corporate  existence  to  each  of  the  two 
churches  were  obtained  in  April,  1817,  as  well  as  a  law 
incorporating  "The  Roman  Catholic  Benevolent  So- 
ciety." ^  The  first  board  of  Trustees  of  the  Cathedral 
was  elected  by  those  who  supported  Bishop  Connolly, 
and  this  party  next  attempted  to  gain  control  of  St. 
Peter's  Church.  Great  excitement  was  caused  by  the 
divisions  in  the  Catholic  body,  and  Father  Ffrench  by 
violent  and  turbulent  appeals  in  the  churches,  and  still 
more  in  public  meetings  and  circulars,^  gravely  com- 

'  Laws  of  New  York,  April  11,  14,  15,  1817. 

'  See  Ffrench,  "  To  the  Members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Communion  of 
the  City  of  New  York,"  2  pp.,  4to,  a  violent  production.  "  Address  of 
the  Trustees  of  St.  Peter's  Church  to  the  Congregation,"  3  pp.,  4to, 
m6re  temperate. 


TRIALS  AND  DIFFICULTIES.  179 

promised  the  Bishop  whom  he  sought  to  serve.  On 
their  side  the  party  siding  with  the  Trustees  of  St. 
Peter's  brought  charges  against  Father  Ffrench  of 
unclerical  conduct  in  Canada  and  New  Brunswick. 
They  asked  Dr.  Connolly  to  remove  him  from  his 
position  ;  but  the  Bishop,  not .  crediting  the  accusa- 
tions, refused  to  act  on  them.  When  the  Trustees 
proposed  to  appeal  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  as  Metro- 
politan, the  Bishop  entered  formally  on  the  minutes 
his  protest  "  against  the  Archbishop  or  any  other  Ec- 
clesiastic interfering  in  the  concerns  of  the  Catholic 
Congregation  of  New  York,  unless  expressly  being 
empowered  by  the  Holy  Father,  the  Pojie."  The 
Trustees,  however,  addressed  a  long  communication  to 
Archbishop  Marechal,  reviewing  the  whole  contro- 
versy.^ They  refused  to  pay  the  salary  of  Father 
Ffrench,  and  threatened  to  close  the  doors  of  the 
church  against  him,  and  one  of  their  body  menaced 
the  Bishop  with  the  withdrawal  of  his  salary.  Dr. 
Marechal  declined  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  New 
York,  but  reptesentations  had  been  made  at  Rome, 
and  in  September,  1819,  Cardinal  Fontana  wrote  to 
the  Archbishop  in  regard  to  Bishop  Connolly's  bishop- 
ric.^ About  the  same  time,  Rev.  William  Taylor  was 
deputed  to  proceed  to  Rome  and  lay  before  the  Pro- 
paganda a  statement  of  the  condition  of  the  diocese, 
and  he  proceeded  on  his  way.  About  this  time  also, 
Bishop  Connolly  withdrew  the  faculties  of  the  Rev. 
Peter  Malou.^  The  whole  affair  was  a  sad  comment- 
ary on  the  introduction  of  national  preferences  into 

■  Address  in  the  archives  at  Baltimore. 

'Archbishop  Marechal  to  Bishop   Connolly,  Dec.  24,  1819;  Bishop 
Connolly  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Dec.  30,  1819  ;  Oct.  6,  1820. 

3  Same  to  Rev.  William  Taylor,  Dec.  24,  1819. 


180       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  affairs  of  the  Church.  Bishop  Connolly  had  been 
selected  to  appease  the  complaints  made  by  unworthy 
priests  and  pretentious  laymen  who  had  really  lost  the 
faith  ;  he  had  drawn  none  but  priests  of  his  own 
nationality  to  his  diocese ;  yet  he  found  himself 
denounced  by  his  own  to  his  Metropolitan,  and  to 
the  Propaganda,  and  a  fellow-countryman  aiming 
to  supersede  him.^ 

In  the  autumn  of  1820,  Bishop  Connolly  made  a 
visitation  of  part  of  his  diocese,  extending  to  more 
than  a  thousand  miles.  Notwithstanding  his  ad- 
vanced age  he  returned  without  any  serious  incon- 
venience.^ 

Meanwhile  Bishop  Connolly  had  been  able  to  effect 
some  good.  Sister  Rose  White,  after  receiving  the 
counsels  of  their  i)ious  foundress,  came  with  two  Sis- 
ters of  Charity,  Cecilia  O' Conway  and  Felicite  Brady, 
from  Emmitsburg  in  1817  to  take  charge  of  the  Or- 
phan Asylum,  and  made  their  first  home  in  a  small 
wooden  building  on  Prince  Street  near  the  Cathedral. 
Only  five  orphans  were  at  first  confided  to  their  care, 
but  the  next  year  they  had  twenty-eight.^ 

The  Catholics  in  Utica  and  western  New  York  re- 
solved to  erect  a  church  in  that  place,  "  On  January 
10,  1819,  after  mass  said  in  the  house  of  John  C. 
Devereux  by  Rev.  M.  O' Gorman,  notice  was  given  in 
due  form  of  the  election  of  a  Board  of  Trustees.  On 
the  next  two  Sundays  the  Catholics  met  in  the  same 

'  Letters  were  written  to  Rome  by  the  Bishop  of  Quebec,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore,  and  other  prelates,  urging  caution  and  circumspec- 
tion before  acting  in  regard  to  New  York. 

'  Bishop  Connolly  to  the  Propaganda,  March  4,  1823. 

^  White,  "  Life  of  Mrs.  Eliza  A.  Seton,  Foundress  and  first  Superior 
of  the  Sisters  or  Daughters  of  Charity  in  the  United  States,"  etc.,  New 
York,  1853,  p.  390,  500. 


CHURCH  AT   UTICA.  181 

place  without  a  priest,  and  after  their  usual  service 
notice  was  again  given,  and  on  the  25th  a  meeting  was 
held  at  which  John  O'Connor,^  John  C.  Devereux, 
Nicholas  Devereux,  Morris  Hogan  of  New  Hartford, 
Oliver  Weston,  Thomas  McCarthy,  James  Lynch, 
John  McGuire  of  Rochester,  Charles  Carroll  of  Gene- 
see River,  were  duly  elected  the  first  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  the  first  Catholic  church  in  the  Western  Dis- 
trict of  New  York."  Many  of  these  gentlemen  lived 
from  fifty  to  two  hundred  miles  from  Utica,  but  though 
the  Erie  Canal  works  already  employed  many  Irish 
Catholics,  only  a  single  church  seemed  within  the 
means  of  the  faithful.  Morris  S.  Miller,  Esq.,  gave 
three  lots  for  the  proposed  edifice,  the  Devereuxs  sub- 
scribed $1125,  many  others  from  $1  to  $50.  The 
church  was  completed  in  1820,  and  Milbert,  a  French 
traveler,  wrote  :  "  On  an  isolated  elevation  rises  a  new 
church.  It  is  elegantly  built  of  wood  in  gothic  style. 
I  attended  the  ceremony  of  its  dedication,  which  was 
performed  by  the  Catholic  Bishop .  of  New  York, 
August  19,  1821."  ^  A  local  publication  bears  out  his 
flattering  account :  "  The  chapel  is  a  beautiful  struc- 
ture at  the  corner  of  Bleecker  and  John  streets  ;  is  of 
wood,  45  by  60,  with  a  cupola,  and  was  erected  in  1820. 
....  The  Society  acknowledges  with  f)leasure  a 
liberal  assistance  from  Protestants  generally."  ^ 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  Bishop  Connolly 
was  called  upon  to  dedicate  another  church.  This  was 
at  Carthage,  where  a  French  gentleman,  Mr.  Leray  de 

'  John  O'Connor  was  the  first  Catholic  resident  of  Auburn,  and  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Ellen  O'Connor  Grant,  died  while  this  work  was  going 
through  the  press,  in  her  76th  year.  Rev.  J.  J.  Hickey  of  Waterloo 
and  Father  Pius,  C.  P.,  are  her  nephews. 

*  Milbert,  "  Itineraire  Pittoresque  de  Fleuve  d'Hudson,"  i.,  p.  154. 

3  Utica  Directory,  1828. 


182       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Chaumont,  had  drawn  settlers  to  develop  liis  large 
j)roperty.  As  many  were  Catholics,  he  erected  a 
church  for  their  use.  Milbert,  who  witnessed  its  dedi- 
cation by  Bishop  Connolly,  writes:  "On  the  most 
striking  eminence  rises  a  little  church  surmounted  by 
its  belfry.  It  was  built  of  the  expense  of  Mr.  Leray 
de  Chaumont,  and  is  erected  for  the  use  of  the  Irish 
Catholics  who,  with  a  certain  number  of  Germans  and 
Americans,  constitute  almost  the  entire  population  of 
the  town.  Dr.  Connolly,  Catholic  Bishop  of  New 
York,  dedicated  it  during  my  stay  at  Lerayville.  It 
is  to  serve  the. double  purpose  of  church  and  i^ublic 
school,  for  in  the  United  States  every  district,  how 
unimportant  soever,  is  bound  to  have  a  school  and 
maintain  at  its  expense  a  teacher  to  instruct  the 
children."  ^ 

Both  these  churches  were  x)laced  under  the  care  of 
Rev.  John  Farnan,  who  said  mass  at  Utica  in  the 
Court  House,  May  30,  1819,  and  who  labored  for  sev- 
eral years  along  the  line  of  the  Erie  Canal,  the  first 
great  field  of  Catholic  employment  and  avenue  of 
Catholic  emigration  westward.^ 

On  the  return  of  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  in  1821,  Bishop 
Connolly  declined  to  receive  him  into  his  diocese,  and 
that  priest  issued  an  address  to  the  Catholics.  This 
led  to  a  public  meeting  in  which  the  course  of  the 

'Milbert,  ii.,  p.  39. 

2  Rev.  F.  P.  McFarland  to  author,  Feb.  12,  1856.  Sermon  of  Rev.  J. 
S.  M.  Lynch,  Sept.  18,  1887.  No  detailed  account  of  Bishop  Connolly's 
visitation  has  been  found.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  he  went  as  far 
west  as  Buffalo,  and  that  he,  and  not  Bishop  Conwell  of  Philadelphia, 
baptized  a  child  of  Mr.  Patrick  O'Rourke,  after  Le  Couteulx,  one  of  the 
pioneer  Catholics  of  Buffalo  (Timon,  "Missions,"  211  ;  Lynch,  "Re- 
trospections," in  Buffalo  Cath.  Union,  Sept.  13,  1889),  and  that  in  con- 
sequence of  the  visitation.  Rev.  Mr.  Kelly,  of  Rochester,  in  1821  said 
mass  for  five  Catholic  families  in  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Church. 


REV.   JOHN  POWER.  183 

Bishop  was  sustained,  and  a  memorial  was  adopted 
expressing  tlie  adherence  of  his  people  to  him.  Rev. 
Mr.  Taylor  then  withdrew  to  Boston.^  Father  Ffrench, 
ordered  from  Rome  to  leave  the  diocese  under  pain  of 
suspension,  sailed  for  New  Brunswick  to  obtain  evi- 
dence refuting  the  charges  brought  against  him  ;  he 
published  a  vindication,  and  seems  to  have  returned  in 
a  more  subdued  spirit.^  Father  Carbry  had  removed 
to  Norfolk  to  fan  the  troubles  there.  Father  Malou 
had  been  recalled  by  his  Superior  to  Maryland.  The 
diocese  of  New  York  thus  lost  many  of  its  i^riests,  but 
was  at  last  favored  with  hopes  of  peace  and  harmony. 

During  the  days  of  trouble  the  diocese  received  a 
priest  destined  to  a  long  and  important  ministry  in 
New  York.  This  was  the  Rev.  John  Power,  a  native 
of  Roscarberry,  Ireland  ;  born  on  the  19tli  of  June, 
1792.  Educated  at  Maynooth,  he  became  professor  in 
the  seminary  of  the  diocese  of  Cork,  and  subsequently 
curate  at  Youghal.  He  came  to  New  York  in  1819  at 
the  solicitation  of  the  Trustees  of  St.  Peter's  Church. 
His  eloquence,  ability,  and  prudence  soon  made  him  a 
general  favorite. 

In  1820  and  the  following  year,  Bishop  Connolly 
ordained  the  Rev.  Richard  Bulger,  a  cheerful  and 
laborious  missionary  in  Long  Island  and  New  Jersey, 
and  the  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly. 

'Ante,  p.  125.  Taylor,  "  An  Address  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Congre- 
gation of  New  York"  ;  New  York,  Baldwin,  1821,  pp.  8.  "An  Address 
of  the  Roman  Catholics  of  New  York  :  to  the  Right  Rev.  Doctor  John 
Connolly  ;  together  with  the  Resolutions  that  wei'e  passed  at  three  meet- 
ings," New  York,  March,  1821,  pp.  8.  There  is  also  a  scurrilous  pam- 
phlet by  Walter  Cox. 

*  Ffrench,  "  A  Short  Memoir  with  some  Documents  in  vindication  of 
the  charges  made  by  malicious  persons  against  the  character  of  Rev. 
Charles  Ffrench,"  etc.     St.  John,  New  Brunswick,  1822,  pp.  16. 


184       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

On  the  11th  of  February,  1821,  the  Bishop  sustained 
a  heavy  loss,  the  Cathedral  having  been  sacrilegiously 
robbed  of  a  monstrance,  a  ciborium,  two  crucifixes,  and 
a  hundred  dollars  in  money. ^ 

The  Laity's  Directory  for  1822,  prepared  by  Rev. 
John  Power,  gives  the  following  account  of  the  diocese. 
In  the  city  of  New  York,  E,t.  Rev.  John  Connolly  and 
Rev.  Michael  O' Gorman  at  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral; 
at  St.  Peter's  Church,  Rev.  Charles  Ffrench  and  Rev. 
John  Power.  Rev.  Richard  Bulger  at  Paterson  ;  Al- 
bany and  its  missions,  Troy,  Lansingburgh,  Johns- 
town, and  Schnectady  were  attended  by  Rev.  Michael 
Carroll ;  Utica  and  its  missions,  by  Rev.  John  Farnan; 
Auburn,  Rochester,  and  other  districts  in  the  western 
part  of  the  State  by  the  Rev.  Patrick  Kelly ;  while 
Staten  Island  and  congregations  along  the  North  River 
were  attended  regularly  by  the  Augustinian  Father 
Philip  Lariscy.^ 

New  York  had  its  two  free  schools,  supported  partly 
by  the  funds  of  the  State,  and  partly  by  moneys  raised 
twice  a  year  by  the  two  congregations.  It  had,  too,  as 
we  have  seen,  an  orphan  asylum. 

At  Rome  a  lot  had  been  given  for  a  church  by  Dom- 
inic Lynch ;  at  Auburn  a  church  was  already  projected, 
Carthage  church  had  no  resident  priest.  In  New 
Jersey,  St.  John's  Church  at  Paterson,  a  building 
twenty-five  feet  by  thirty,  attended  by  Rev.  Mr.  Bul- 

'  Bishop  Connolly  to  Bishop  Plessis,  Feb.  17,  1821, 

^  "The  Laity's  Directory  to  the  Church  Service,  for  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1822,"  New  York,  Creagh,  1823,  pp.  104-6.  "History  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  Paterson,  N.  J.,  with  an  account  of  the  fifteenth 
Anniversary  of  the  establishment  of  St.  John's  Church."  Paterson, 
■  1883.  The  first  mass  in  Paterson  was  said  at  Michael  Gillespie's  house 
on  Market  street  by  F.  Lariscy,  O.S.A.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Lant^dill. 


BROOKLYN.  185 

ger,  was  the  only  church  in  that  part  of  the  State  in- 
cluded in  the  diocese  of  New  York,  and  from  it  was 
served  the  old  chapel  at  Macopin,  in  the  mining  popu- 
lation attended  in  the  last  century  by  Father  Farmer. 
Bottle  Hill,  now  Madison,  was  attended  from  1805. 
Newark  had  then  a  very  small  Catholic  population. 

In  New  York  city  the  annual  interest  on  the  heavy 
debt  of  the  Cathedral  exhausted  the  resources  and 
prevented  the  support  of  more  clergymen.  The  Bishop 
all  day  and  often  at  night  discharged  the  duties  of 
parish  priest  and  curate,  that  the  dying  might  not  be 
deprived  of  the  sacraments,  or  those  in  health  of 
penance  and  holy  communion.^ 

During  the  early  part  of  the  century  the  Catholics 
of  Brooklyn  had  been  compelled  to  cross  the  East 
River  in  all  weathers  in  order  to  attend  mass  at  St. 
Peter's  Church,  and  the  future  Archbishop  of  New 
York  and  Cardinal  of  Holy  Church  frequently  made 
the  trip  in  his  boyhood.     In  1822,  however,  a  zealous 
and  pious  man,  Peter  Turner,  addressed  a  circular  to 
his  fellow  Catholics  to  urge  some  movement  for  the 
establishment  of   a   church   and   school.     When  the 
Catholics  assembled  it  was  found  that  there  were  only 
seventy  able  to  give  money  or  their  labor.     Ground, 
however,   was  bought  on  Jay  Street  in  March,  and 
work  on  the  church  began,  and  mass  was  occasion- 
ally said  for  the  Catholics  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Bulger, 
O' Gorman,    Power,    McAuley.     The   church  was,    at 
last,  solemnly  dedicated  to  Almighty  God  under  the 
invocation  of  St.  James,  by  Bishop  Connolly  on  the 
26th  of  August,  1823,  the  Rev.  John  Power  preaching 
on  the  occasion.^ 

1  Bishop  Connolly  to  Propaganda,  March  4,  1822. 
2U.  S.  Catholic  Historical  Magazine,  i.,  pp.  298-303.     Rev.  Thomas 
C.  Levins,  who  arrived  in  this  country  in  July,  1822,  says  in  his  Diary, 


186     THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED   STATES. 

The  Sacred  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide  about 
this  time  suggested  the  transfer  of  Bishop  Kelly  to. 
New  York  as  coadjutor,  but  he  had  so  openly  con- 
demned the  State  governments  in  this  country  for  in- 
corporating boards  of  trustees  for  Catholic  churches, 
that  Bishop  Connolly  advised  against  the  translation 
as  likely  to  cause  trouble/ 

William  Cobbett  tells  us,  on  the  authority  of  Bishop 
Connolly,  that  there  were  when  he  left  America  fifteen 
thousand  communicants  in  New  York  city.^ 

Before  the  year  1824  Catholics  had  not  been  mo- 
lested in  New  York  and  its  vicinity  from  the  days  of 
the  riot  at  St.  Peter's  Church ;  but  at  this  time  a  so- 
ciety pledged  by  oath  to  uphold  the  King  of  England, 
the  Orangemen,  were  not  only  active  in  creating  preju- 
dice against  Catholics  but  proceeded  to  open  violence, 
attacking  them  on  the  anniversary  of  the  Battle  of  the 
Boyne  in  Greenwich  village,  then  a  suburb  of  New 
York,  at  Lockport,  and  at  Paterson,  New  Jersey. 
Several  of  them  were  indicted  in  New  York  for  dis- 
turbing the  peace  and  for  assault,  and  were  convicted, 
Thomas  Addis  Emmet  and  William  Sampson,  two  well- 
known  Protestant  lawyers,  appearing  against  them.^ 

Though  additional  churches  were  greatly  needed  in 
New  York  city,  it  seemed  rash  to  undertake  others, 

"  On  the  second  day  (July  16),  I  visited  Brooklyn  on  Long  Island,  where 
the  Catholics  had  just  prepared  the  foundations  of  a  chapel  or  church, 
as  every  place  of  worship  is  here  termed.  It  is  small,  being  only  60  feet 
long,  40  wide."  The  oldest  tombstone  is  that  of  John  O'Connor,  who 
died  Aug.  19,  1822.     N.  Y.  Cath.  News,  March  9,  1870. 

'  Bishop  Connolly  to  Propaganda,  March  4,  1822. 

*  Cobbett's  Letters  to  George  IV.  in  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  Dec. 
29,  1824.  He  speaks  of  Bishop  Connolly's  recent  return  from  Rome,  but 
I  find  no  allusion  to  it  elsewhere. 

^  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  iii.,  pp.  143.  Wheeler's  "Criminal  Cases," 
iii.,  pp.  82-100. 


DEATH  OF  BISHOP  CONNOLLY.  187 

while  the  two  were  so  heavily  burthened.  In  Octo- 
ber, meetings  of  Catholics  were  held,  in  which  Rev. 
Michael  O' Gorman  took  an  active  part,  and  an  as- 
sociation was  organized  to  collect  money  throughout 
the  city  to  reduce  and  gradually  extinguish  the  debts. 
The  resolutions  paid  a  tribute  of  respect  to  Bishop 
Connolly,  "who  most  justly  possesses  the  confidence 
of  all,  and  whose  wisdom,  piety,  and  zeal  have  excited 
the  admiration  of  our  fellow-citizens — whose  conduct, 
manners,  and  example  recall  to  our  minds  what  we 
have  read  of  primitive  simplicity  in  the  history  of  the 
Apostles  of  the  earlier  ages."  ^ 

Change  of  climate,  change  from  a  quiet  cloistered 
life  to  one  of  care,  anxiety,  and  constant  labor  as  a 
missionary  priest,  now  began  to  tell  on  the  Bishop. 
He  solicited  the  appointment  of  Rev.  Michael 
O' Gorman  as  his  coadjutor,  but  in  November,  1824, 
that  worthy  priest  was  stricken  down  by  a  fatal  dis- 
ease, and  within  eight  days  Rev.  Richard  Bulger  also 
expired  at  the  Bishop's  house  on  Broadway.  They 
were  buried  near  the  south  door  of  the  Cathedral. 
Bishop  Connolly  was  deeply  affected  by  this  blow,  but 
struggled  to  fulfill  the  increased  duties  which  devolved 
upon  him,  although  he  was  taken  ill  immediately  after 
attending  Rev.  Mr.  O' Gorman's  funeral.  While  offi- 
ciating at  another  burial  about  the  1st  of  January,. 
1825,  he  was  prostrated,  and  departed  this  life  on 
Sunday  evening,  February  6,  1825,  at  seven  o'clock. 
His  body  was  exposed  in  the  central  aisle  of  St.  Peter's 
Church  till  the  solemn  mass  of  requiem,  after  which 
his  remains  were  conveyed  to  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral 
and  interred  near  the  altar.  ^ 

'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  iii.,  pp.  300-3. 

■^Bayley,  "Brief  Sketch,"  pp.  76-7;  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  iv., 
pp.  128,  160. 


CHAPTER  XL 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

VERY  REV.  JOHN  POWER,  ADMINISTRATOR,  1825-1826. 

By  the  death  of  Bishop  Connolly  the  temporary 
administration  of  the  diocese  devolved  upon  the  Very 
Rev.  John  Power,  who  had,  as  assistant  and  pastor  of 
St.  Peters,  evinced  qualities  that  fitted  him  for  the 
position  of  Vicar  General. 

He  took  up  the  work  earnestly,  and  having  literary 
tastes,  shown  by  his  translation  of  part  of  the  Bible  de 
Roj^aumont,  the  publication  of  a  Laity's  Directory,  and 
an  edition  of  the  prayer-book  known  as  "True  Piety." 
He  also  encouraged  the  establishment  of  a  Catholic 
paper,  "The  Truth  Teller,"  which  appeared  on  the 
2d  of  April,  1825,  under  the  management  of  George 
Pardow  and  William  Denman.  He  continued  the 
good  work  of  the  association  for  relieving  the  churches 
from  debt,  and  raised  his  eloquent  voice  to  aid  it.  In 
the  Orphan  Asylum  and  the  Sisters  of  Charity  who 
directed  it,  he  showed  unflagging  interest.  Their 
original  home  had  become  altogether  too  contracted, 
and  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Power  in  October  began  the  erec- 
tion of  a  new  three-story  brick  edifice  that  would  give 
accommodation  to  160  orphans.  To  aid  the  work  he 
delivered  a  charity  sermon,  and  enlisted  Bishop  Eng- 
land, who  about  the  time  visited  New  York,  to  deliver 
another,  obtaining  by  these  appeals  more  than  a  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  asylum  was  completed  and  dedi-* 
cated  on  the  23d  of  November,  1826,  and  was  almost 
immediately  filled  by  the  orphans  whom  the  charita- 

188 


ORPHAN  ASYLUM. 


189 


ble  Sisters  had  gathered  to  the  number  of  150.  The 
Garcia  Italian,  troupe  contributed  also  to  the  good 
work  by  an  Oratorio  in  the  Cathedral,  the  finest  musi- 
cal entertainment  ever  heard  in  New  York,  the  famous 


VERY   REV.  JOHN   POWER,  V.  G.  ADMENISTBATOR. 


Signorina  Garcia  (Madame  Malibran)  joining  in  the 
exercises.^ 

The  diocese  soon  lost  another  priest,  Rev.  Mr, 
Brennan,  ordained  by  the  late  Bishop,  January,  1822, 
and  stationed  at  Paterson  ;  but  his  health  failed  and 
he  died  at  New  York  in  March,  1825.     About  this 

»  U.  S.  Catholic  Misc.,  v.,  p.  304.  Truth  Teller,  May  8,  Oct.  15,  1825  ; 
June  24,  Nov.  18,  1826.  Goodrich,  "Picture  of  New  York,"  pp.  225, 
342. 


190       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

time  St.  James'  Church,  Brooklyn,  obtained  a  perma- 
nent priest,  Rev.  John  Farnan.^ 

Dr.  Power  encouraged  Catholics  east  of  Broadway, 
in  the  purchase  of  a  Presbyterian  church  on  Sheriff 
Street,  which  was  fitted  up  for  the  Catholic  liturgy 
and  was  formally  opened  by  the  pastor,  Rev.  Hat- 
ton  Walsh,  May  14,  1826;  this  third  Catholic 
church  in  New  York  was  dedicated  to  Our  Lady,  and 
took  the  name  of  St.  Mary's.^  The  church  soon  proved 
inadequate  to  accommodate  the  Catholics  in  that  part 
of  New  York  city,  and  as  early  as  1829  it  was  found 
necessary  to  enlarge  it.'^ 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Bishop  Connolly  orders  were 
received  from  Rome  for  the  restoration  of  Rev.  Peter 
Malou,  whose  faculties  had  been  withdrawn  by  the 
late  Bishop.  He  resumed  his  accustomed  duties  at 
St.  Peter's  Church,  but  he  did  not  survive  long,  dying 
on  the  10th  of  October,  1827.=" 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Hist.  Mag.  i.,  p.  301. 

■i  Truth  Teller,  May  6-13,  1836;  Sept.  26,  1839,  v.,  p.  308.  Walsh, 
"  A  Discourse  delivered  at  the  opening  of  St.  Mary's  Church  on  Sunday, 
the  14th  day  of  May,  1836,"  New  York,  1836,  pp.  20. 

2  Peter  Anthony  Malou  was  born  at  Ypres,  October  9,  1758,  and  mar- 
ried June  3,  1777,  Marie  Louise  Riga.  He  took  an  active  part  in  the 
rising  against  the  Austrians  in  1786,  both  in  the  council  and  the  field, 
aiding  materially  as  general  to  deliver  his  native  Belgium.  After  being 
envoy  to  Paris,  where  he  endeavored  to  save  his  country  from  invasion, 
he  came  to  America.  Returning  soon  after  to  Europe  he  lost  his  wife, 
and  in  1801  entered  the  Seminary  at  Wolsau  ;  but  in  1805  applied  for 
admission  as  a  lay  brother  in  the  Society  of  Jesus.  He  occupied  this 
humble  position  till  he  was  recognized  by  one  of  his  old  officers.  He 
was  then  required  to  complete  his  theological  course,  and  in  1811  was 
sent  to  America.  New  York  was  the  chief  scene  of  his  priestly  labors. 
His  son,  John  Baptist,  became  Senator  of  Belgium  ;  his  grandson  of  the 
same  name.  Bishop  of  Bruges.  "  His  zeal,  his  admirable  charity  to  re- 
lieve all  distresses,  the  purity  of  his  morals  will  cause  his  loss  to  be 
deeply  felt  by  all  those  who  knew  him,  particularly  by  the  poor,   who 


CONSECRA  TION.  1 91 

Early  in  the  year  1826  Mr.  Waddington,  of  New- 
York,  who  owned  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  State,  gave  a  tract  of  fifty  acres  at  Wad- 
dington for  the  use  of  the  Church.  The  Rev.  James 
Salmon,  an  aged  priest  who  had  lived  there  some  years 
ministering  to  the  faithful,  thereupon  began  the  erec- 
tion of  a  log  church.' 

When  the  Bulls  arrived  appointing  to  the  see  of 
New  York  the  founder  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  College, 
the  Rev.  John  Du  Bois,  and  the  day  was  fixed  for  his 
consecration,  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Power  went  to  Baltimore, 
and  with  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Conwell,  Bishop  of  PhiLv 
delphia,  acted  as  assistant  to  Archbishop  Marechal  at 
the  consecration  on  the  29th  of  October,  1826.  On 
the  5th  of  November  the  Very  Rev.  Administrator 
preached  at  the  installation  of  Bishop  Du  Bois,  and 
relinquished  the  care  of  the  diocese.'' 


will  mingle  their  tears  with  those  of  his  numerous  friends,"  says  a  paper 
of  the  time.  Truth  Teller,  iii.,  p.  327  ;  De  Courcy,  "  Catholic  Church 
in  the  United  States,"  pp.  387-9. 

1  Truth  Teller,  July  1.  1836  ;  J.  Talbot  Smith,  "  A  History  of  the 
Diocese  of  Ogdensburg,"  New  York,  p.  89. 

'  Truth  Teller,  Nov.  4,  Nov.  11,  1826.     Rev.   Mr.  Taylor  embarked  a 
few  days  afterwards  for  France. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  YORK. 

RT.  KEY.  JOHN  DU  BOIS,  THIRD  BISHOP,  1826-1829. 

The  clergyman  selected  to  fill  the  see  of  New  York 
was  one  known  far  and  wide  through  the  country. 
As  a  zealous  missionary,  as  founder  of  a  college  and 
seminary  for  the  education  of  clergymen,  he  was 
known  and  respected.  Priests  trained  at  Mount  St. 
Mary's  were  already  laboring  in  the  vineyard  in  many 
dioceses.  Young  men  whose  training  in  the  college 
proved  the  stepping-stone  to  success  maintained 
through  life  their  respect  for  Rev.  John  Du  Bois.  He 
was  born  in  Paris,  August  24,  1764  ;  trained  by  a  pious 
mother  he  received  his  education  at  the  College  of 
Louis-le-Grand,  Camille  Desmoulins  and  Robespierre 
being  fellow-students.  Entering  the  seminary  dedi- 
cated to  the  Irish  Saint  Magloire,  he  was  ordained 
priest  September  22,  1787,  and  became  assistant  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Sulpice,  and  chaplain  to  the  Sisters  of 
Charity.  In  this  sphere  he  labored  zealously  till  1791, 
when  the  priest  of  God  held  his  life  in  his  hands,  ex- 
pecting death  at  any  moment.  John  Du  Bois  was  not 
a  man  to  flinch  easily  before  any  danger,,  but  at  last 
exile  became  his  only  choice.  With  the  connivance 
of  his  old  schoolmates  and  strong  letters  from  Lafay- 
ette, he  was  able  to  reach  Norfolk  in  August,  1791. 
Bishop  Carroll,  a  good  judge  of  men,  was  favorably 
impressed  with  the  learning,  zeal,  and  courage  of  the 
young  priest.  He  labored  at  Norfolk  and  Richmond, 
and  endeavored  to  erect  a  church  at    Alexandria. 

192 


RT.  REV.  JOHN  DU  BOIS,  THIRD  BISHOP  OP  NEW   YORK. 


193 


CONSECRATION.  195 

Transferred  to  Frederick  and  to  Emmitsburg  lie 
built  up  a  college,  to  which  the  Sulpitians  removed 
their  preparatory  seminary.  He  also  aided  Mother 
Seton  in  her  great  work.  His  services  in  the  cause 
of  religion  can  be  traced  in  these  pages.  He  brought 
to  the  important  duties  of  Bishop  of  New  York 
long  experience  in  the  ministry,  skill  in  the  train- 
ing of  clergymen,  firmness  perhaps  too  much  like 
obstinacy,  energy  and  activity  for  creating  necessary 
institutions,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  country. 

He  was  consecrated  by  Archbishop  Marechal,  Octo- 
ber 29,  1826,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore,  the  sanct- 
uary being  crowded  with  priests  and  ecclesiastics, 
many  of  whom  owed  their  education  to  his  zeal  and 
care.  His  ring  and  cross  were  given  to  him  by  Charles 
Carroll  of  Carrollton,  the  last  of  the  signers  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Bishop  Conwell  of 
Philadelphia,  and  Very  Rev.  John  Power,  Adminis- 
trator of  the  diocese  of  New  York,  acted  as  assistants. 
The  Cathedral  was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity, 
but,  as  a  presage  of  coming  trouble.  Rev.  William 
Taylor,  who  preached  on  the  occasion,  gave  vent  to 
expressions  which  foreboded  the  direst  troubles  to  the 
Church  of  God  in  New  York. 

His  pupils  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  College  presented 
him  an  address  expressive  of  their  sense  of  the  loss 
sustained  by  the  college  in  being  deprived  of  its 
founder  and  President,  and  embodying  their  heart- 
felt wishes  for  his  success  and  hapj)iness  in  the  new 
field  to  which  the  Head  of  the  Church  summoned  him.^ 

He  was  installed  in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  New 
York,  on  the  Sunday  within  the  octave  of  All  Saints, 


'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,   Nov.  25,  1826.      Truth  Teller,  Nov.  11, 
1826. 


196        THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

when  tlie  Very  Rev.  Administrator  preached  and  re- 
signed into  his  hands  the  office  which  he  had  held. 
Bishop  Du  Bois  then  ascended  the  pulpit  and  ex- 
pressed the  wish  "that  there  should  be  but  one  heart 
and  one  soul  between  the  Bishop,  his  clergy,  and  the 
congregation.  They  should  on  every  occasion  act  in 
unison,  and  by  adopting  this  course  the  Catholics  of 
New  York  might  almost  work  miracles."  ' 

When  Bishop  Du  Bois  began  to  study  the  condition 
of  his  diocese,  he  found  Catholics  everywhere,  far  in 
excess  of  tlie  number  that  had  been  reported.  He 
estimated  the  faithful  in  the  city  of  New  York  at  25,- 
000,  and  in  his  whole  jurisdiction  at  probably  150,000, 
but  soon  was  led  to  believe  his  estimate  too  low.  For 
this  flock  he  had  but  nine  churches  and  eighteen 
priests. 

The  remarks  of  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  at  Baltimore,  and 
indications  but  too  evident  in  New  York,  left  no  room 
for  doubt  in  the  mind  of  Bishop  Du  Bois,  and  he  saw 
that  those  who  had  opposed  Bishop  Connolly  would 
now  oppose  him,  but  make  his  nationality  their  pre- 
text. Yet  the  first  indications  were  favorable  ;  and 
he  wrote  to  Archbishop  Marechal :  "I have  had  noth- 
ing but  consokition  since  my  arrival  here.  The  fright- 
ful prognostications  of  good  Mr.  Taylor  have  vanished 
like  smoke,  and  I  see  around  me  only  good  will  and 
union,  but  it  will  take  time  to  form  a  decided 
opinion."  ^ 

'  "  I  had  learned  there  had  been  debates  in  New  York,  whether  or  not 
Dr.  Du  Bois  should  be  received  or  admitted  into  any  church  of  the  city. 
The  conclusion  of  this  council  was  that  they  should  admit  him  ;  but 
afterwards  give  him  trouble,  as  a  person  intruded  on  them  by  undue  in- 
fluence."   Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Aug.  2,  1826. 

*  Bishop  Du  Bois  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Nov.  24,  1826.  Annales 
de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  iv.,  p.  417,  etc. 


FIRST  PASTORAL.  197 

In  a  pastoral  letter  lie  exposed  the  great  wants  of 
the  diocese  and  the  necessity  of  harmonious  action  ;  he 
thanked  the  clergy  and  laity  in  general  for  the  recep- 
tion which  he  had  received.  He  then  answered  the 
charge  that  his  appointment  was  the  work  of  a  cabal. 
His  late  ecclesiastical  superior,  Archbishop  Marechal, 
and  the  Sulpitians,  "a  society  of  humble,  pious,  dis- 
interested, and  unambitious  ecclesiastics,"  were  ar- 
raigned as  the  instigators.  He  declared  unequivocally 
that  Archbishop  Marechal,  so  far  from  urging  his 
selection,  made  every  representation  against  it,  and 

SIGNATURE   OF  BISHOP  DU  BOIS,  OP  KEW   YORK. 

that  the  priests  of  the  Seminary  in  Baltimore  were  like 
himself  ignorant  of  his  appointment  till  his  Bulls 
arrived. 

His  nationality  was  objected  to  ;  "H  we  were  not 
long  ago  American  by  our  oath  of  allegiance,  our 
habits,  our  gratitude  and  affection,  thirty-five  years 
spent  in  America  in  the  toils  of  the  mission  and  of 
public  education,  would  surely  give  us  the  right  to 
exclaim :  We  too  are  American !  But  we  are  all 
Catholics.  Are  not  all  distinctions  of  birth  and  coun- 
try lost  in  this  common  profession?"  He  met  the 
complaint  that  a  priest  of  the  diocese  ought  to  have 
been  selected  by  showing  that  there  was  only  one 
priest  who  had  been  identified  with  it  for  any  great 
number  of  years. 

He  then  entered  upon  the  condition  of  the  bishop- 
ric ;  he  showed  the  great  want  of  churches  and  priests, 
and  the  necessity  of  opening  Catholic  schools.  He 
had  brought-  with  him  two  young  priests  and  one  sem- 


198       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

inarian  who  was  soon  to  be  ordained.  These  he  pro- 
posed to  employ  at  first  in  catechetical  instruction  of 
the  young.  He  intended  to  introduce  Sisters  of 
Charity  to  conduct  academies  and  schools,  but  there 
was  urgent  need  for  similar  establishments  for  boys. 
This  need  he  hoped  to  supply  and  to  complement  the 
system  by  a  college  on  the  plan  of  Mount  St.  Mary's. 
Praising  the  clergy  and  faithful  for  the  fine  orphan 
asylum  recently  erected,  he  called  attention  to  the 
want  of  a  Society  for  protecting  and  aiding  immigrants, 
as  well  as  of  a  home  for  the  aged  ;  he  urged  the  clergy 
and  faithful  to  unite  in  restoring  the  discipline  of  the 
church,  so  that  all  marriages,  baptisms,  and  funeral 
services  should  take  place  in  churches  and  not  in 
private  houses.^ 

During  the  winter  Bishop  Du  Bois  visited  Paterson 
and  Newark  in  New  Jersey,  and  the  Catholic  soldiers 
at  Fort  Diamond.  His  first  ordination,  that  of  Rev. 
Luke  Berry,  took  place  in  the  Cathedral,  January  1, 
1827.  In  the  summer  he  made  a  visitation  of  the 
churches  in  New  York  State,  returning  in  October. 

Bishop  Du  Bois  received  important  aid  for  his  dio- 
cese in  the  Rev.  Felix  Varela,  a  native  of  Cuba  and 
professor  in  the  Royal  College  of  San  Carlos  at  Havana. 
This  learned  priest  had  gone  to  Spain  as  one  of  the 
deputies  of  his  native  island  to  the  Cortes,  but  when 
the  constitution  was  overthrown  he  was  proscribed 
and  came  to  the  United  States.  In  1824  he  began  the 
publication  in  Philadelphia  of  a  little  periodical  called 
"El  Habanero,"  but  the  next  year  he  removed  to  New 
York.  When  Bishop  Du  Bois  assumed  control.  Dr. 
Yarela  had  mastered  English  and  was  apparently  al- 

'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  vii.,  pp.  17,  33,  49,  July  21,  etc..  1827.  It 
indicates  the  feeling  in  New  York  that  this  pastoral  did  not  appear  in 
the  Truth  Teller,  the  Catholic  paper  published  in  that  city. 


REV.   FELIX  VARELA.  199 

ready  received  into  the  diocese,  where  his  virtues  and 
his  learning  made  him  for  many  years  a  conspicuous 
member  of  the  clergy.  Bishop  Du  Bois  iDlaced  him  as 
assistant  at  St.  Peter's  Church,  but  he  was  not  long  in 
that  position.  A  new  church  was  needed,  and  finding 
Christ  Episcopal  Church,  in  Ann  Street,  offered  for 
sale,  Dr.  Varela  purchased  it  in  March,  1827,  with 
his  own  funds  and  means  lent  to  him  by  Spanish  mer- 
chants and  friends.  Here  was  a  field  where  he  soon 
displayed  his  boundless  charity,  his  zeal  for  souls,  his 
learning  and  devotion.'  This  church  was  solemnly 
dedicated  by  Bishop  Du  Bois  on  the  15th  of  July, 
1827.2 

The  condition  of  this  diocese  as  revealed  by  Bishop 
Du  Bois's  personal  examination  was  not  a  cheering 
one,  and  he  felt  how  much  was  required  to  supply  the 
congregations  already  organized  with  suitable  pastors, 
and  to  gather  into  congregations  the  large  numbers 
scattered  at  various  i^oints,  who  would  cheerfully 
maintain  a  priest.  It  had  been  his  desire  to  proclaim 
the  jubilee  officially,  and  make  it  instrumental  in  re- 
viving faith  and  enkindling  zeal,  but  he  had  no  priests 
whom  he  could  employ  to  preach  from  place  to  place. 
New  York  city,  with  its  30,000  Catholic  souls,  had  the 
Bishop  and  six  priests ;  the  rest  of  his  diocese  con- 
tained about  as  many  souls,  with  only  four  priests. 
Rev.  Mr.  Savage  at  Albany  was  so  negligent  in  his 
duties,  that  the  Bishop  soon  found  it  necessary  to  re- 
move him  ;  Rochester  was  without  a  resident  clergy- 
man, Carthage  poorly  supplied.     There  was  no  pro- 

'-  "  El  Habanero,  Papel  Politico,  Cientiflco  y  Literario,"  Philadelphia 
and  New  York,  1834^5.  Eodriguez,  Vida  del  Presbitero  Don  Felix 
Varela.    New  York,  1878,  pp.  226-254. 

^  Truth  Teller,  July  21,  1827.    Bishop  Du  Bois,  Letter,  Oct.  19,  1827. 


200       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

vision  for  the  future  by  college  or  seminary  to  which 
he  CO  aid  look  for  priests  to  undertake  the  increasing 
work.^ 

Before  his  return  to  New  York,  placards  were 
posted  up,  attacking  Bishop  Du  Bois  for  interfering  in 
elections  of  trustees,  although  he  had  done  nothing  of 
the  kind.  He  found,  too,  that  prejudice  had  been  ex- 
cited against  him  for  having  the  deed  of  Christ  Church 
made  to  him  as  Bishop,  as  though  he  proposed  to 
rob  the  flock  confided  to  him.  He  answered  the  vile 
insinuations  by  a  pastoral  to  the  congregation,  and  by 
printing  the  accounts  of  the  church.  Trustees  of  the 
churches  evidently  feared  that  the  faithful  would 
contrast  an  economically  managed  church,  with 
those  rushing  to  bankruptcy  by  their  mismanage- 
ment.^ 

Another  able  priest,  whom  untoward  circumstances 
prevented  from  rendering  the  Church  all  the  services 
that  might  have  been  expected,  was  Rev.  Thomas  C. 
Levins,  received  into  the  diocese  shortly  before  the 
death  of  Bishop  Connolly.  Thoroughly  versed  in 
mathematics  and  natural  philosophy,  having  made 
special  studies  in  Europe  under  the  soundest  scholars, 
he  came  to  the  United  States  to  become  a  professor  in 
Georgetown  College.  His  scientific  acquirements  were 
soon  recognized,  and  he  was  twice  appointed  to  the 
Board  of  Examiners  of  the  cadets  at  the  Military 
Academy,  West  Point.  Circumstances  led  to  his  with- 
drawal from  the  Society,  and  Bishop  Du  Bois  found 
him  in  charge  of  the  Cathedral.  He  had  won  reputa- 
tion as  a  preacher,  and  a  controversy  with  Bishop 

'  Bishop  Du  Bois  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  July  16,  Oct.  19,  1827. 
« Bishop  Du  Bois,  Pastoral  Letter,  Oct.  14,  1827.     U.  S.  Catholic  Mis- 
cellany, vii.,  p.  171.     Bishop  Du  Bois  to  Caaon  Mayet,  March  1,  1828. 


ROCHESTER,   BUFFALO.  201 

Hobart  displayed  theological  learning  and  rare  dialec- 
tic ability. 

In  the  summer  of  1828  Bishoj)  Du  Bois,  accompanied 
by  Very  Rev.  John  Power,  began  a  visitation  of  his 
diocese,  traversing  the  State  of  New  York  as  far  west 
as  Buffalo  and  northerly  to  St.  Regis.  ^ 

Rochester  had  been  visited  from  1818-9  by  Rev. 
Patrick  McCormack  and  Francis  Kelly.  It  now  pos- 
sessed a  church,  erected  by  Rev.  Michael  McNamara, 
but  already  almost  ruinous.^  Here  Bishoj)  Du  Bois 
administered  confirmation,  and  gave  a  short  mission. 
At  Buffalo  he  found  seven  or  eight  hundred  Catholics, 
French,  Canadians,  Swiss,  Irish,  and  some  Germans. 
He  ministered  to  all,  hearing  confessions  of  Germans 
who  could  not  speak  English,  by  means  of  an  inter- 
preter. Here  Louis  Le  Couteulx  gave  the  Bishop  a 
fine  site  for  a  church,  prompted  to  the  act  by  Rev. 
Stephen  T.  Badin,  who  had  visited  Buffalo.^  The  pro- 
ject of  erecting  a  suitable  edifice  was  heartily  taken 
up.  The  Bishop  offered  the  holy  sacrifice  in  the 
Court  House  on  Sunday,  July  29,  1829,  and  baptized 
thirty  or  forty.  He  then  proceeded  with  the  Catholics, 
all  saying  the  rosary,  to  the  cemeter j^,  which  he  blessed. 
Soon  after  his  visitation  Bishop  Du  Bois  was  able  to 
send  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Mertz  to  Buffalo  to  carry  on 
the  good  work.  That  good  priest  arrived  late  in  the 
year  1829,  and  took  up  his  abode  in  a  small  log  house 
on  Pearl  ^treet  between  Eagle  and  Court,  officiating 

'Truth  Teller,  iii.,  p.  230;  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  vii.,  p.  39. 
He  set  out  July  18. 

'Bishop  Timon,  "Missions  in  Western  New  York,"  Buffalo,  1862,  p. 
209-13.     Truth  Teller,  v.,  p.  332. 

'The  deed  dated  January  1,  1829,  to  Rt.  Rev.  John  Du  Bois,  is  given 
by  Lynch  in  his  "  Retrospections,"  Buffalo  Union,  Sept.  20,  1888. 


202       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

in  a  frame  house  near  by,  which  he  rented  till  he  was 
able  to  build  a  church.^ 

When  Bishop  Du  Bois  on  his  visitation  reached 
Saint  Regis  he  found  the  little  Indian  village  rent  by- 
factional  animosities.  He  succeeded  in  reconciling 
the  American  and  British  parties,  and  dissuaded  the 
former  from  attempting  to  have  a  separate  church  on 
their  own  side  of  the  line.  Here  he  gave  a  mission, 
preaching,  instructing,  and  administering  the  sacra- 
ments. Near  the  Indian  village  had  grown  up  an  Irish 
settlement  which  also  called  for  the  exercise  of  his 
zeal. 

After  visiting  Montreal  he  returned  to  New  York  by 
way  of  Plattsburg,  where  he  met  Rev.  Mr.  Mignaulfc 
of  Chambly,  whose  apostolical  services  among  the 
Catholics  near  the  frontier  should  never  be  forgotten.* 

Meanwhile  Utica  was  thriving  under  its  pastor.  Rev. 
Luke  Berry.  Sixty-six  pews  were  filled  every  Sunday, 
and  eighty-six  pupils  regularly  attended  the  instruc- 
tions in  catechism.  Catholics  had  gathered  at  Salina 
in  numbers  sufficient  to  justify  in  1828  the  project  of 
erecting  a  church. 

At  Albany  the  Catholics  were  endeavoring  to  build 
a  new  and  larger  church,  the  primitive  shrine  of  relig- 
ion no  longer  sufficing  to  hold  one-third  of  the  faithful. 
As  some  money  had  been  allotted  to  Bishop  Du  Bois 
by  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  at 
Lyons,  he  loaned  part  of  this  to  the  Albany  congrega- 
tion to  enable  them  to  prosecute  the  work.  Not  long 
after  land  was  generously  given  for  a  church  at  Sau- 
gerties. 


1  Lynch,  "  Retrospections,"  Buffalo  Cath.  Union,  Sept.  27,  1888. 

^Fenwick,  "  Memoirs  to  serve  for  the  future  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
the  Diocese  of  Boston." 


NEW  JERSEY.  203 

In  the  New  Jersey  portion  of  his  diocese  Bishop  Du 
Bois  found  the  Catholics  at  Newark  increased  so  much 
in  numbers  that  in  the  summer  they  had  undertaken 
to  build  a  church.  This  good  work  Bishop  Du  Bois 
also  aided  with  funds  received  from  France.^ 

On  the  6th  of  November,  1828,  the  corner-stone  of 
a  new  Catholic  church  was  laid  in  Paterson,  N.  J.,  on 
a  site  given  by  Roswell  Colt  to  his  Catholic  fellow 
citizens.  Bishop  Du  Bois  Avent  in  procession  to  the 
site  to  bless  the  stone  with  the  prescribed  rites.  The 
next  year  the  Rev.  Mr.  Schneller  of  Christ  Church 
was  authorized  to  collect  means  to  give  the  Catholics 
at  New  Brunswick  what  they  greatly  needed,  a  church 
and  cemetery.^ 

The  orphan  asylum  prospered  ;  but  there  was  a  want 
of  a  refuge  for  children  left  with  only  one  parent,  who 
was  unable  to  care  wholly  for  them.  This  led  to  the 
formation  of  an  assistant  orphan  asylum,  or  asylum 
for  the  children  of  widows  or  widowers. 

During  the  winter  the  health  of  Bishop  Du  Bois  be- 
gan to  show  the  effect  of  his  years  of  evangelical  labor 
and  care.^  But  his  mind  was  still  engaged  on  the  great 
work  of  establishing  schools.  In  September,  1828, 
Brother  James  D.  Boylan  arrived  from  Ireland  with 
some  associates,  and  their  plans  for  establishing  a  com- 
munity of  brothers  were  approved  by  the  bishop,  who 

'  Bishop  Du  Bois,  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  laFoi,  iv.,  pp.  4.'55-6, 
etc.  See  Truth  Teller,  iii.,  p.  343,  for  a  specimen  of  the  misrepresen- 
tations of  Newark  Catholics  at  that  time.  The  Albany  Catholics  laid, 
the  corner-stone  of  the  new  church  at  the  corner  of  Chapel  and  Pine, 
Oct.  13,  1829,  Alderman  Cassidy,  president  of  the  board  of  trustees, 
acting.     Truth  Teller,  v.,  p.  333,  343,  309. 

« Truth  Teller,  iv.,  p.  883  ;  v.,  p.  308,  310. 

^U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  viii.,  p.  223  ;  Truth  Teller,  v.,  p.  334, 
343. 


204       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

secured  lots  for  the  erection  of  a  house  and  school  for 
them.  They  took  temporary  charge  of  two  schools  ; 
meanwhile  meetings  were  called,  and  ste]3S  taken  to 
erect  proper  buildings,  but  opposition  arose  to  the 
Bishop  and  the  plan,  and  the  whole  project  was  aban- 
doned.' 

When  Catholic  Emancipation  was  finally  granted  by 
the  British  Parliament,  Bishop  Du  Bois,  who  had 
shown  his  sympathy  with  the  movement  to  obtain 
this  happy  result,  issued  a  pastoral  letter  appointing 
Sunday,  June  21,  for  a  solemn  Te  Deum  in  thanks- 
giving in  all  the  churches  of  his  diocese.  At  the 
masses  on  that  day  nearly  fifteen  hundred  dollars  were 
collected  for  the  orphans. 

Although  summoned  to  the  first  Provincial  Council 
of  Baltimore,  Bishop  Du  Bois  sailed  for  Europe,  as  he 
had  for  more  than  a  year  proposed  to  proceed  to  Pome. 

His  dej)arture  was  induced  by  a  letter  requesting 
it,  from  the  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda.  He 
had  taken  a  great  interest  in  the  coming  Provincial 
Council,  and  discussed  with  Archbishop  Whitfield  the 
matters  of  discipline  which,  in  his  opinion,  ought  to 
be  adopted  and  made  uniform.  He  left  New  York  on 
the  ship  De  Pham  for  Havre,  September  20,  V.  Revs. 
John  Power  and  Felix  Yarela  governing  as  Vicars- 
General  in  his  absence.'' 

His  diocese  at  this  time  contained  in  New  York  city 
the  Cathedral,  St.  Peter's,  St.  Mary's  and  Christ 
Church,  and  steps  were  already  made  toward  the 
erection  of  another  in  what  was  known  as  Greenwich 
village.  There  was  a  church,  St.  James',  in  Brooklyn  ; 
a  church  at  Paterson,  N.  J.,  one  in  progress  of  erec- 

1  Truth  Teller,  v.,  p.  103,  174,  213,  238,  261,  270,  301. 
*Ib.,  v.,  p.  191,  207,  308. 


STATE  OF  DIOCESE.  205 

tion  at  Newark,  and  another  at  Macoupin  ;  Rev.  Mr. 
Schneller  was  collecting  for  a  church  at  New  Bruns- 
wick, Albany  was  erecting  a  second  church,  Utica 
and  Carthage  were  already  provided,  Troy  and  Salina 
were  erecting  churches,  Auburn  had  its  own  ;  Roches- 
ter had  its  priest  and  church,  and  the  Catholics  in 
Buffalo  were  actively  pushing  the  erection  of  theirs. 

The  Bishop  found  himself  hampered  by  the  trustee 
system,  and  met  opposition  to  every  project  for  church 
or  school  that  did  not  surrender  the  whole  control  to 
the  hands  of  the  trustees. 

For  the  150,000  Catholics  in  his  diocese  he  had  only 
eighteen  priests,  and  some  of  those  he  felt  ought  to  be 
replaced  by  men  of  greater  zeal  and  merit.  To  keep 
up  a  supply  of  clergy,  a  seminary  he  felt  to  be  abso- 
lutely necessary,  and  the  establishment  of  such  an 
institution  was  the  great  object  of  his  solicitude  ;  he 
earnestly  appealed  to  the  Propaganda  for  aid  to  found 
an  institution  so  vitally  necessary.' 


'  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoirs  to  serve,"  etc.     Bishop  Du  L  "is  to  the 
Propaganda,  1829. 


SEAL,  OF  BISHOP  DU  BOIS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

DIOCESE  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 
RT.  REV.  MICHAEL  EGAN,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1808-1815. 

On  the  division  of  tlie  original  diocese  of  Baltimore, 
which  had  embraced  the  whole  United  States j  Penn- 
sylvania and  Delaware,  into  which  the  services  of  the 
Church  had  been  extended  from  Maryland,  and  which 
had  even  in  colonial  days  enjoyed  a  freedom  and  tol- 
eration denied  the  faithful  and  their  devoted  priests 
in  the  land  which  Sir  George  Calvert  had  made  a  sanc- 
tuary, were  erected  into  a  bishopric  with  part  of  New 
Jersey.  Next  to  the  diocese  of  Baltimore  that  of 
Philadelphia  seemed  to  promise  most  consoling  re- 
sults ;  but  in  the  course  of  time  it  suffered  more  than 
the  c^'/'7'tch  in  any  other  part  of  the  country  from  ene- 
mies vv. -hin  and  to  a  terrible  extent  from  enemies 
without. 

As  first  Bishop  of  the  new  see,  Archbishop  Carroll 
recommended  the  ax)pointment  of  the  Rev.  Father 
Michael  Egan,  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis,  who  had 
been  some  years  on  the  mission  in  Pennsylvania.'  He 
was  not  unknown  at  Rome,  having  been  guardian  of  a 
house  of  his  order  in  the  Eternal  City.  By  his  bull, 
"Ex  debito  Pastoralis  officii,"  Pope  Pius  VII.  erected 
the  see  of  Philadelphia  and  appointed  Father  Egan  as 
first  Bishop.  On  receiving  intelligence  of  the  election, 
Archbishop  Carroll  made  the  Bishop-elect  Yicar  Gen- 

'  Bishop  Carroll  recommended  Father  Egan  as  a  learned,  modest, 
humble  priest,  carefully  practising  in  his  whole  life  the  rules  of  his  holy 
order.     Letter  to  Cardinal  Pietro,  June  17,  1807. 

206 


AS  VICAR  GENERAL.  207 

eral  for  the  territory  embraced  in  the  new  diocese  of 
Philadelphia. 

Michael  Egan,  thus  selected,  with  the  general  wel- 
come of  the  Catholic  body  which  he  was  to  govern,  is 
said  to  have  been  born  in  Galway,  and  showing  piety 
and  talent  was  sent  to  the  continent  after  receiving 
the  gray  habit  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisium.  He  made 
liis  studies  in  the  great  convent  of  St.  Isidore  at  Rome, 
and  in  time  became  guardian  of  that  famous  house  of 
the  Irish  Franciscans,  founded  in  1 625  by  the  illustri- 
ous Father  Luke  Wadding. 

Father  Egan  felt,  however,  that  he  was  called  not  to 
learned  rest  in  the  capital  of  the  Christian  world,  but 
to  labor  as  a  missionary  among  his  own  countrymen 
where  the  need  was  greatest.  While  toiling  on  hum- 
bly and  unostentatiously  in  Ireland,  where  he  spent 
seven  years,  he  received  a  letter  from  Lancaster  in 
Pennsylvania,  in  which  the  Catholics  of  that  town  in- 
vited him  to  come  and  minister  to  them.  Naturally 
surprised  that  he  should  be  known  at  all  in  such  a  re- 
mote spot,  he  felt  impelled  to  respond  to  the  call 
which  summoned  him  to  a  field  where  priests  were 
sorely  needed.  He  accordingly  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1802  and  began  to  labor  as  assistant  to  the 
Rev.  Louis  de  Barth  de  Walbach,  then  in  charge  of 
the  Lancaster  church  and  the  missions  dependent  on 
it.  It  was  a  hard  life  in  a  wild  country,  riding  to  dis- 
tant points  to  say  mass  and  to  visit  the  sick ;  but  the 
good  Franciscan  roused  the  zeal  of  the  peoj^le  by  his 
fervor  aijid  piety.  The  congregation  of  St.  Mary's, 
Philadelphia,  soon  asked  that  he  should  be  appointed 
to  their  church,  as  a  field  where  he  could  accomplish 
much  more  good.  He  left  the  whole  matter  in  the 
hands  of  Bishop  Carroll,^  who  transferred  him  to  Phil- 

»  F.  Michael  Egan  to  Bishop  Carroll,  Feb.  10,  1803. 


208       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

adelpliia.  After  exercising  the  ministry  for  nearly  a 
year  at  St.  Mary's,  lie  was  convinced  that  a  province 
of  the  Seraphic  order  might  be  established  in  the 
United  States  with  great  advantage  to  the  Church,  and 
upon  laying  the  matter  before  Bishop  Carroll  he  ad- 
dressed Cardinal  Somaglia,  in  order  to  obtain  through 
his  influence  with  the  Pope  and  the  General  of  the 
Franciscans  the  necessary  authority  to  erect  a  province 
and  hold  lands.  Offers  of  a  large  farm  near  Frank- 
fort, Kentucky,  inclined  him  to  select  that  spot  as  the 
cradle  of  the  future  Franciscan  province.^ 

When  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  Pius  VII.,  made 
Father  Michael  Egan  a  Bishop,"  his  duties  were  en- 
larged. The  responsibility  of  looking  after  the  wel- 
fare of  all  the  churches  and  the  faithful  in  the 
diocese  thus,  to  some  extent,  devolved  on  him,  with 
the  special  charge  of  St.  Mary's  Church.  There  he 
had  no  assistant  except  Father  John  Rosseter, 
O.S.A.,  who  was  in  such  feeble  health  as  to  be  able 
to  render  but  little  aid.  When  Advent  came  he 
detained  the  pious  priest,  Rev.  Mr.  Byrne,  who  was 
on  his  way  from  New  York  to  Georgetown,  and  re- 
joiced to  see  the  good  he  accomplished.  On  the  17th 
of  December,  1808,  arrived  a  priest  destined  to  occupy 
an  important  place  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  This 
was  the  Rev.  William  Vincent  Harold,  O.S.D.,  who 
came  strongly  recommended  by  Archbishop  Troy  of 
Dublin  and  his  provincial  to  Bishop  Concanen,  whom 
he  expected  to  find  already  installed  in  New  York. 


'  Same  to  same,  Jan.  8,  29,  1805.  F.  Michac4  Egan  to  Cardinal  Soma- 
glia, Philadelphia,  Dec.  11,  1803.  His  first  entry  in  the  Lancaster  Reg 
ister  is  Jan.  17,  1803  ;  Register  of  St.  Joseph's  is  April  11,  1803.  Wood- 
stock Letters,  ii.,  p.  176.     S.  M.  Sener  in  U.  S.  Cath.  Hist.  Mag.,  i.,  p.  45. 

«  Bull,  "  Apostolatus  Officium,"  April  8, 1808. 


DIOCESE  OF  PHILADELPHIA.  209 

Gifted  with  rare  eloquence,  based  on  ability  and  learn- 
ing, Father  Harold  made  so  vivid  an  impression  that 
the  Bishop-elect  resolved  to  secure  him  for  his  diocese, 
and  solicited  the  necessary  faculties  from  Archbishop 
Carroll.^ 

When  the  see  of  Philadelphia  was  established,  there 
were  in  Philadelphia  St.  Joseph's  and  St.  Mary's 
churches,  attended  by  Rev.  Michael  Egan,  O.S.F.,  the 
Bishop-elect,  assisted  by  Rev.  John  Rosseter  ;  Holy 
Trinity,  attended  by  Rev.  William  Elling  and  F. 
Adam  Britt'  ;  St.  Augustine's,  by  V.  Rev.  Matthew 
Carr,  O.S.A.,  and  Rev.  M.  Hurley,  O.S.A.  Holy 
Trinity  had  by  a  successful  lottery  in  1806  erected  a 
parsonage  and  St.  Joseph's  Orphan  Asylum,  the  first 
institution  of  its  kind  established  by  Catholics  in  the 
United  States.'  Rev.  Louis  de  Barth  attended  at  Lan- 
caster and  Conewago  ;  Rev.  Paul  Erntsen  had  begun  in 
1793  his  quarter  century  pastorship  at  Goshenhoppen  ; 
Rev.  S.  Y.  Phelan  had  reared  a  log  church  at 
Sugar  Creek,  and  Father  Peter  Helbron,  O.  Min.  Cap., 
another  log  chapel  in  Westmoreland  county  ;  Rev. 
Demetrius  A.  Gallitzin  was  laboring  in  the  dis- 
trict of  which  Loretto  was  the  centre,  and  Rev.  W. 
F.  O'Brien  had  just  left  Brownsville  to  restore  to  a 
permanent  footing  Catholicity  in  Pittsburgh,  where  in 
the  days  of  the  French  the  brave  men  Avho  so  gallantly 
strove  to  hold  that  point  knelt  before  the  altar  of 


'  Bishop-elect  Egan  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Dec.  19,  1808. 

'^  Father  Britt  found  the  German  catechism  which  had  been  in  use  out 
of  print.  He  issued  a  new  edition  extending  the  prayers  for  Confession 
and  Communion.  F.  Adam  Britt  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Nov.  9,  1809  ; 
Finotti,  Bibliotheca. 

^Rev.  E.  O.  Hilterman,  "  Kurze  Geschichte  der  Allerheil.  Dreifaltig- 
keits  Gemeinde." 


210       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Our  Lady.'  There  were  a  few  cliurclies  without  resi- 
dent priests,  as  at  Elizabethtown,  Westchester,"  Car- 
lisle, and  not  a  few  stations  scattered  far  and  wide. 
Such  was  the  diocese  over  which  the  mild  and  humble 
Franciscan  was  called  to  exercise  his  pastoral  care, 
create  resources  to  meet  ever-increasing  wants,  and 
instill  into  all  the  lessons  of  harmony  and  peace. 

The  expected  Bulls  did  not  arrive,  but  as  early  as 
October  20,  1808,  Archbishop  Carroll  addressed  the 
trustees  of  the  several  Catholic  churches  of  Philadel- 
phia, explaining  that  it  had  become  indispensably 
necessary  to  make  provision,  as  well  for  the  first  ex- 
penses of  the  consecration  and  installation  of  the  new 
prelate,  as  for  his  permanent  support.  He  explained 
that  the  Holy  See  required  solid  assurance,  when  new 
bishoprics  are  instituted,  that  the  Bishop  shall  be  in- 
dependent of  the  fluctuations  of  favor  or  public  opin- 
ion and  free  from  all  apprehension  of  being  deprived 
of  his  means  of  support.  He  accordingly  called  upon 
them  for  a  settlement  of  the  Bisho^j's  income  on  a 
footing  suitable  and  honorable  to  his  station,  and  not 
controllable  by  the  influence  of  those  over  whose  high- 
est interest  Divine  Providence  had  appointed  him. 

The  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Rev.  Adam  Britt 
pastor,  and  the  trustees  of  Holy  Trinity  Church,  and 
Rev.  Michael  Hurley  for  St.  Augustine's  Church, 
bound  themselves  to  make  up  a  yearly  amount  of  eight 


'  Rev.  p.  Helbron  had  visited  Pittsburgh  as  early  as  1805.  Letter  to 
Archbisliop  Carroll,  Nov.  1,  1805. 

^  Mr.  Anthony  Hearn  by  his  will  left  a  mortgage  which  he  held  on 
church  property  at  White  Clay  Creek  to  insure  the  attendance  of  a  priest 
at  Westchester.  Letter  of  Rev.  J.  P.  Kenny,  May  6,  1807.  The  corner- 
stone of  a  church  to  be  dedicated  to  tlie  Blessed  Virgin  was  laid  at  Le- 
banon by  Rev.  F.  J.  W.  Beschter,  S  J.,  July  23,  1810.  Letter  to  Arch- 
bishop Carroll,  Lancaster,  Aug.  6,  1810. 


BISHOP  EG  AN  CONSECRATED.  211 

hundred  dollars,  St.  Mary's  paying  four  hundred  dol- 
lars, and  each  of  the  others  two  hundred.^  To  meet 
the  accommodation  required  by  the  increasing  body 
of  the  faithful,  an  enlargement  of  St.  Mary's  Church 
was  begun  in  the  spring  of  1809  and  completed  in  the 
autumn  of  the  following  year.'^ 

During  the  long  delay  in  the  arrival  of  the  Bulls 
the  Bishop-elect  could  act  only  as  Vicar-General,  but 
they  finally  arrived  in  August,  1810,  by  the  hands 
of  Bishop-elect  Flaget.  Arrangements  were  at  once 
made  for  the  ceremony,  and  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Egan 
was  consecrated  by  Archbishop  Carroll,  with  the 
Bishop-elect  of  Bardstown  and  Boston  as  assistants, 
in  St.  Peter's  Church,  the  pro-cathedral  of  Baltimore, 
on  Sunday,  October  28,  1810.  Bishop  Egan  soon  after 
took  i)art  as  assistant  in  the  consecration  of  Bishops 
Cheverus  and  Flaget. 

He  united  with  his  Metropolitan  and  fellow-suf- 
fragans in  drawing  up  rules  of  discipline,  and  in  a 
pastoral  letter,  as  well  as  in  a  letter  to  the  Irish 
hierarchy.^ 

Returning  to  Philadelj)hia,  where  he  was  formally 
installed  in  St.  Mary's  Church,  he  soon  found  the 
trustees  assuming  a  high  tone  as  owners  and  proprie- 
tors of  his  cathedral.  A  very  slight  examination 
showed  Dr.  Egan  that  the  trustees  were  not  the  legal 
owners   of   the  church  at  all.*      Before   the  close    of 

'  Archbishop  Carroll  to  Trustees,  Oct.  20, 1808.  Action  of  Trustees, 
Nov.  1,  1808,  in  "  Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,"  pp.  637-9. 

2  Woodstock  Letters,  ii.,  p.  78. 

» lb.,  pp.  633-63. 

"•  Bishop  Neale  at  Baltimore  and  Georgetown  assured  Bishop  Egan  that 
there  was  in  Philadelphia,  among  the  papers,  a  deed  of  St.  Mary's  to  Rev. 
Robert  Harding.  This  on  his  return  he  found,  dated  May  23,  1763. 
The  Hon.  Thomas  Fitz  Simons  was  still  alive,  one  of  the  witnesses  of  the 


212       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

winter,  Rev.  James  Harold,  O.  S.  T>.,  uncle  of  the  Do- 
minican already  at  St.  Mary's,  reached  Philadelphia, 
by  way  of  Rio  Janeiro,  having  escaped  from  Australia, 
to  which  he  had  been  sent  on  suspicion  of  complicity 
in  the  rebellion  of  1798.^ 

Early  in  the  year  Father  Charles  Neale,  superior  of 
the  Maryland  Jesuits,  recalled  Father  Britt  from  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  Philadelphia,  against 
the  wish  of  Archbishop  Carroll  and  Bishop  Egan,  and 
the  latter  was  compelled  to  rely  on  Rev.  Dr.  Mat- 
thew O'Brien  and  Rev.  Mr.  Kenny  to  say  mass  at  the 
German  church.^ 

In  July,  though  in  ill  health,  he  set  out  from  Phila- 
delphia, where  he  had  visited  the  churches,  to  continue 
his  visitation  through  Pennsylvania.  He  suffered  ex- 
tremely on  the  journey  from  the  excessive  heat  of 
the  weather  and  the  jolting  of  the  stage-coach  on  the 
mountain  roads.  Of  his  visits  east  of  the  mountains 
we  have  no  record,  but  we  trace  him  at  Brownsville, 
where  he  celebrated  mass  and  administered  confir- 
mation at  the  house  of  Major  Noble  ;  and  at  Loretto, 
where  Prince  Gallitzin  welcomed  him  heartily,  he  con- 
firmed one  hundred  and  eighty-five,  many  very  young 
children.     The  good  effected  by  the   Russian  Prince 

deed.  Bishop  Egaa  put  the  deed  on  record  Jan.  29.  1811.  Letter  to 
Archbishop  Carroll,  Feb.  19,  1811,  and  deed  in  U.  S.  Catholic  Hist. 
Mag.,  ii.,  pp.  31-34. 

'  Bishop  Egan  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  March,  1811  ;  Hogan,  "  The 
Irish  in  Australia,"  Dublin,  1888,  pp.  226-230. 

'  Bishop  Egan  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  June  5,  Oct.  14,  1811.  Rev.  F. 
Maximilian  Rantzau  was  sent  soon  after,  but  did  not  succeed.  When 
Rev  Mr.  Kenny  attempted  to  preach  threats  were  made  that  he  would  be 
dragged  from  the  pulpit.  He  seems  to  have  been  stationed  there  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  could  no  longer  speak  German.  Rev.  J.  P.  Kenny 
to  Archbishop  Carroll,  May  6,  1807. 


VISITATION.  213 

cheered  the  Bishop  so  that,  on  reaching  Pittsburgh,  he 
recovered  speedily  not  only  from  the  fatigue  but  from 
his  illness.  Here  too  he  administered  the  sacrament 
of  confirmation  for  the  first  time.  "The  satisfaction 
I  experienced  in  beholding  the  great  number  of  Catho- 
lics throughout  that  widely  extended  country  ;  and 
their  ]3unctuality  in  observing  their  religious  duties 
v^^henever  opportunity  offers,  more  than  compensated 
for  all  that  I  could  possibly  suffer.  I  have  been  in- 
deed highly  gratified  with  the  rapid  increase  of  relig- 
ion in  the  different  congregations  I  have  visited,  and 
this  gratification  would  be  greatly  augmented  had  I 
ten  more  zealous  priests  to  send  to  their  assistance. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Gallitzin  is  scarcely  any  longer  capable 
of  attending  to  the  spiritual  necessities  of  the  very 
numerous  congregation  committed  to  his  care.  I  have 
promised  him  an  assistant  when  in  my  power.  In 
Pittsburgh  also  they  are  crying  out  for  another  priest 
to  assist  the  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien,  who  has  several  other 
stations  to  attend,  and  of  course  cannot  be  with  them 
as  often  as  they  would  wish.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Helbron's 
advanced  age  renders  it  necessary  to  provide  for  his 
assistance.  In  a  word,  without  some  timely  aid  from 
Europe,  particularly  from  Ireland,  I  know  not  how  to 
provide  for  the  necessities  of  this  diocese." 

During  this  tour  of  duty  Bishop  Egan  confirmed 
1460  persons ;  but  if  he  returned  consoled  and  en- 
couraged, he  soon  found  himself  involved  in  disagree- 
able complications  with  the  trustees  of  St.  Mary's,  and 
a  struggle  began  which  proved  destructive  to  many 
souls,  and  which  for  years  paralyzed  the  work  of  the 
Church  in  Pennsylvania. 


'  Bishop  Egan  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Oct.  8,  1811  ;   Lambing,  "  His- 
tory of  the  Dioceses  of  Pittsburgh  and  Alleghany,"  pp.  40,  237,  306. 


214       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

One  of  the  results  of  the  consecration  of  a  Bishop 
and  his  presence  at  the  missions  throughout  Pennsyl- 
vania is  shown  in  the  erection  of  a  brick  church  at 
York  in  1810  to  replace  the  old  stone  house  that  had 
previously  been  in  use  from  1776,  and  of  a  stone 
church  at  Chambersburg  in  1812,  where  the  faithful 
had  previously  had  only  a  primitive  log  chapel.^ 

When  Archbishop  Carroll  wrote  to  the  trustees  of 
the  Philadelphia  churches,  one  point  was  overlooked 
or  evaded  in  their  reply,  that  relating  to  the  expenses 
of  Bishop  Egan's  consecration.  The  time  came,  at 
last,  for  him  to  proceed  to  Baltimore,  and  then  the 
trustees  of  St.  Mary's  refused  to  act  in  the  matter  ; 
they  subsequently  demanded  that  one  of  the  priests 
should  be  dismissed  from  St.  Mary's,  and  declared 
that  they  had  no  funds  to  pay  the  salaries  of  the 
Bishop  and  the  priests  who  assisted  him. 

Bishop  Egan  then  appealed  to  the  pewholders  and 
called  a  meeting,  against  which  the  trustees  issued 
their  protest,  and  a  long  document  in  which  they 
stigmatized  the  action  of  Bishop  Egan  in  addressing 
the  faithful  of  his  own  cathedral  as  riotous,  disorderly, 
pernicious,  and  antichristian,  and  these  men  proceeded 
to  lecture  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  on  the  "pacific, 
harmonious,  and  Christian  spirit  which  pastors  should 
cherish  toward  their  flocks."^  This  pamphlet,  with  ac- 
counts arranged  to  suit  their  own  purposes,  they  printed 
and  distributed  widely.  The  gross  misrepresentations 
and  injurious  expressions  used  by  the  trustees  in  their 
publication  required,  as  the  Bishop  believed,  a  public 

'  Conewago,  pp.  125,  129. 

^  "  Sundry  Documents  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  pew- 
holders of  St.  Mary's  Church  by  the  Trustees  of  that  Church."  Phila- 
delphia, 1812. 


DAYS  OF  TRIAL.  215 

answer,  and  another  meeting  of  the  Congregation  was 
called  at  St.  Joseph's  Chapel,  Sept.  21,  1812,  which 
condemned  the  trustees  and  sustained  the  Bishop.' 
The  trustees  then  applied  to  the  Legislature  to  amend 
the  charter  of  the  church  and  exclude  the  clergy  from 
the  board,  but  this  Bishop  Egan  succeeded  in  prevent- 
ing.^ 

Bishop  Egan  found  in  his  trials  that  even  his  two 
assistants  would  not  cooperate  with  him.  Father 
William  V.  Harold  refused  to  preach  alternately  with 
his  uncle,  and  when  trouble  had  so  undermined  the 
Bishop's  nervous  system  and  general  health  that  he 
could  scarcely  jjut  pen  to  paper  or  hold  the  chalice 
at  mass,  both  priests  refused  to  aid  him  in  giving 
communion  to  the  faithful.^ 

The  next  year  a  new  board  of  trustees  was  elected, 
but  they  soon  showed  the  same  hostility.  On  the  4th 
of  May  they  held  a  meeting  in  the  absence  of  the 
Bishop  and  his  assistants,  and  j)assed  a  resolution 
cutting  down  the  salary  of  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Egan  and  his 
two  priests  to  $400  a  year.  The  object  in  view  was  to 
control  the  action  of  the  Bishop  and  force  him  to 
recall  the  elder  Father  Harold,  whom  he  had  removed.* 
As  he  was  firm,  however,  the  younger  Harold  resigned 
in  February,  1813.^  When  he  admonished  the  majority 
of  the  trustees,  who  adhered  obstinately  in  their  plan 
of  starving  the  Bishoj)  into  subjection  to  their  will  in 

'  Bishop  Egan  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Sept.  28,  1813.     Proceedings  of 
meeting,  Sept.  21, 1812. 
2  Bishop  Egan  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Feb.  17,  29,  1812. 

*  Same  to  same,  Jan.  14,  Nov.  7,  1812.  The  Harolds  treated  Bishop 
Egan  with  great  disrespect,  and  Rev.  James  Harold  is  said  even  to  have 
struck  him. 

*  Same  to  same,  July  7,  1813. 

^  He  sailed  from  New  York  in  1813  for  Europe  by  way  of  Madeira- 


216       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  spiritual  management  of  his  diocese,  they  retali- 
a.ted  by  an  Address  to  the  Congregation,  in  which,  af- 
ter violent  language  against  the  Bishop,  they  gave  a 
financial  account,  including  not  only  what  had  been 
paid,  but  what  they  expected  to  pay,  Avhat  the  Bishop 
received  from  other  churches,  and  what  they  sup- 
posed he  and  his  clergy  received  from  baptisms,  mar- 
riages, etc.^ 

Not  content  with  thus  grossly  assailing  their  own 
Bishop  they  wrote  to  ArchbishojD  Carroll  in  a  domi- 
neering tone  that  showed  little  respect  for  the  aged 
founder  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy  in  the  United  States. 
His  temperate  reply,  explaining  that  he  had  no  au- 
thority to  interfere  in  the  management  of  a  diocese, 
drew  from  them  an  abusive  letter.  In  his  reply  to 
this  he  said  :  "I  have  still  less  inclination  to  notice  the 
uncivil  and  unfounded  insinuations  leveled  at  me  in 
your  letter.  Correspondence  should  cease  when  it 
is  no  longer  mutually  respectful."  ^ 

The  condition  of  the  diocese  in  1813  may  be  stated 
briefly.  Bishop  Egan  Avas  at  St.  Mary's  with  Rev.  T. 
McGirr  :  Rev.  M.  Carr  at  St.  Augustine's  with  Rev. 
Michael  Hurley  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Roloff  at  Holy  Trinity  ; 
Rev.  Michael  T.  Byrne  at  Lancaster  ;  Rev.  Dr.  A. 
Gallitzin  at  Loretto  ;  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien  at  Pittsburgh  ; 
Rev.  L.  de  Barth  at  Conewago  ;  Rev.  Paul  Erntsen 
was  at  Goshenhoppen  ;  Rev.  Patrick  Kenny  was  in 
Delaware. 

>"To  the  Congregation  of  St.  Mary's  Church,"  July  25,  1813. 
Bisho^  Egan  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  July  26,  1813. 

*  Trustees  to  Archbisliop  Carroll,  Aug.  8,  1814  ;  Archbishop  Carroll's 
reply,  Aug.  16.  Matthew  Carey,  who  took  part  against  Bishop  Egan  as 
he  did  afterwards  against  Bishop  Conwell,  in  his  "  Rejoinder  to  the  Reply 
of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Harold,"  Philadelphia,  1822,  pp.  11-26,  gives  a  very  unfair 
account  of  the  troubles  in  Bishop  Egan's  time,  full  of  misstatements  and 
suppressions. 


THE  TRAPPISTS.  217 

The  orphan  asylum  near  Holy  Trinity  had  been 
maintained,  Rev.  Mr.  Hurley  constantly  exerting  him- 
self in  its  behalf,  and  Mr.  Cornelius  Tiers  being  a  gen- 
erous benefactor.  In  1814  tlie  managers  of  the  asylum 
through  Father  Hurley  apjDlied  to  Mother  Seton  for 
Sisters  of  Charity  to  assume  the  direction  of  the  insti- 
tution. Three  Sisters  were  at  once  a^Dpointed,  Sister 
Rose  White  being  Sister  servant.  They  did  not  arrive, 
however,  till  after  the  death  of  Bishop  Egan,  leaving 
Emmitsburg  in  September,  and  reaching  PhiladeliDhia 
by  a  tedious  land  journey,  British  cruisers  holding 
the  Chesapeake.^ 

During  the  year  1813  the  ubiquitous  Trappists 
made  a  brief  attempt  to  establish  a  permanent  monas- 
tic home  in  Pennsylvania.  Father  Yincent  de  Paul 
spent  some  days  in  August  with  Bishop  Egan  at  St. 
Joseph's  residence,  leaving  his  name  on  the  parochial 
registers,  and  then  went  up  to  Pike  County  to  examine 
some  land  near  Milford,  which  had  been  offered  to  his 
community.  Finding  the  land  uninviting  and  the 
country  wild  and  unsettled.  Father  Vincent  and  his 
companions  returned  to  Philadelphia,  and  in  October 
were  enjoying  once  more  the  hospitality  of  Bislioj? 
Egan.^ 

As  the  sxn-ing  of  1814  advanced,  Bishop  Egan  felt 
that  his  end  was  not  far  off.  With  the  nervous  pros- 
tration came  now  symptoms  of  pulmonary  difficulties. 
Isolated  in  a  manner  at  Philadelphia,  he  yearned  for 
one  wise  in  the  ways  of  God  and  in  spiritual  direction. 


'  Catholic  Herald,  Sept.  30,  1852;  White,  "Life  of  Mrs.  Eliza  A. 
Seton,"  New  York,  1853,  pp.  352,  495.  The  asylum  was  incorporated 
Dec.  18,  1807,  and  the  house  purchased  in  1811. 

'  Flick,  "  French  Refugee  Trappists."  Records  of  the  A.  C.  H.  So- 
ciety, i.,  pp.  111-113. 


218       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

He  invited  Rev.  Mr.  Babad  of  St.  Sulpice  to  Philadel- 
phia ;  but  was  more  successful  in  liis  appeal  to  the 
Jesuit  Father,  Rev.  John  Grassi.'  As  summer  came 
on  his  condition  became  alarming.  Drs.  Mongez  and 
Wistar,  physicians  of  admitted  ability,  were  assidu- 
ous in  their  care,  and  raised  hopes  of  his  recovery. 
"  Every  attention,  care,  and  tenderness,  spiritual  and 
temporal,  have  been  bestowed  on  him  by  the  clergy  and 
his  devoted  friends,  the  true  Catholics  of  the  city," 
wrote  Rev.  P.  Kenny  to  Archbishop  Carroll.  He 
added:  " That  he  has  been  the  first  victim  of  episco- 
pal rights,  there  cannot  be  the  least  doubt,  ....  for 
his  end  has  been  premature.""  He  expired  on  the 
morning  of  July  22,  1814,  about  11  o'clock,  laid,  we 
are  told,  on  the  floor  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  before  the 
picture  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  in  room  No.  3  of  the 
pastoral  residence  adjoining  St.  Joseph's  Church. 

Rev.  Michael  Hurley  spoke  touchingly,  at  the  sol- 
emn requiem,  of  the  virtues  and  sufferings  of  the 
deceased  Bishop. 

Tlie  elder  Harold  soon  after  wrote  to  Rome  announc- 
ing the  Bishop's  death,  stating  that  Father  William 
-"V.  Harold  was  Vicar-General,  and  recommending  him 
for  the  vacant  see.' 


'Bishop  Egau  to  Rev.  Mr.  Babad,  1814;  Woodstock  Letters,  ii.,  p. 

182. 

*Rev.  P.  Kenny  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  .July  22,  1814;  Woodstock 
Letters,  ii.,  p.  182. 

^  Letter,  Oct.  7,  1814,  cited  in  documents  in.  the  Propaganda. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 
DIOCESE  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

V.  BEY.  ADOLPHUS  LOUIS  DE  BABTH,  ADMINISTBATOR, 

1814-1820. 

Whet^  the  see  of  Pliiladelpliia  became  vacant  by  the 
death  of  Bishop  Egan,  the  Y.  Rev.  Mr.  De  Earth  of 
Conewago,  whom  he  had  appointed  Vicar-General,  be- 
came Administrator  of  the  diocese.  He  was  extremely 
averse  to  accepting  any  position  of  dignity  in  the 
diocese,  and  at  first  absolutely  declined  Bishop  Egan's 
appointment,  but  finally  yielded.' 

He  was  son  of  Joseph  de  Barth,  Count  de  Wal- 
bach  and  his  wife,  Maria  Louisa  de  Rohme,  and  was 
born  at  Miinster,  Upper  Rhine,  Nov.  1,  1764.  Having 
determined  to  embrace  the  ecclesiastical  state  he  made 
his  studies  under  the  Premonstratensians  at  Bellay, 
and  the  seminary  at  Strasburg.  He  was  ordained 
priest  at  Strasburg  in  1790.  The  French  Revolution 
soon  drove  the  titled  father  and  his  priestly  son  from 
the  land,  and  they  came  to  the  United  States.  Bishop 
Carroll  gladly  received  the  young  priest,  who  did  good 
service  in  the  lower  counties  of  Maryland  and  after- 
wards at  Bohemia.  In  1800  he  was  appointed  to  the 
Conewago  mission,  which  he  directed  with  slight  inter- 
ruption till  1828.  His  authority  was  recognized  gen- 
erally, but  not  by  the  lay  trustees  of  St.  Mary's 
Church,  who  applied  to  Archbishop  Carroll  to  restore 
Rev.  William  V.  Harold.  The  venerable  Metropolitan 
replied  :  "  I  find  that  no  right  is  left  with  me  to  inter- 

>  F,  Lud.  de  Barth  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  July  24,  1814. 
219 


220       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

fere  in  the  government  lately  vested  in  Doctor  Egan. 
He  nominated,  several  days  before  his  death,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Louis  de  Barth,  pastor  of  Conewago,  for  his  Vicar- 
General  ;  and  upon  full  examination  by  some  of  my 
Reverend  Brethren,  and  learned  professors  of  divinity 
here,  as  well  as  by  myself,  it  is  found  to  be  expressly 
ordained,  that  when  a  bishop  dies  in  whose  diocese 
there  is  neither  a  cathedral  chapter,  nor  a  coadjutor 
appointed  with  a  right  of  succession,  the  Vicar-Gen- 
eral not  only  may,  but  is  commanded  to  exercise  all 
the  authority  of  the  deceased  till  the  Holy  See  appoint 
a  new  bishop.  The  Vicar-General  enters  on  this  office 
immediately  in  virtue  of  the  power  of  the  Pope  him- 
self, and  he  holds  it  dependent] y  on  the  Pope  alone. 
This  is  the  provision  made  for  the  continuation  of 
episcopal  authority  during  the  vacancy  of  the  bishop- 
ric of  Philadelphia."  ' 

Archbishop  Carroll  and  his  suffragans  were  con- 
vinced that  the  interests  of  religion  required  that  the 
bishopric  should  be  filled  with  as  little  delay  as  possi- 
ble. The  Rev.  John  B.  David,  learned  and  pious,  was 
proposed,  although  Bishop  Flaget  showed  great  re- 
luctance to  allow  him  to  leave  Kentucky.  Archbishop 
Carroll  expressed  to  Cardinal  Litta  his  surprise  on 
hearing  that  Rev.  AVilliam  V.  Harold  had  been  sug- 
gested to  the  Propaganda,  and  said  that  although  he 
was  a  distinguished  preacher,  he  had  conducted  him- 

'  Archbishop  Carroll  to  Trustees  of  St.  Mary's,  July  37,  1814.  Mat- 
thew Carey  and  the  partisans  of  Hogan  falsified  this  letter  by  reading 
"cathedral,  chapter,"  and  cited  Dr.  Carroll  as  declaring  that  St.  Mary's 
was  not  a  cathedral.  Where  there  was  a  chapter  of  canons  in  a  cathe- 
dral, they  chose  a  Vicar-Capitular,  who  acted  as  Administrator.  See 
[Carey]  "  Review  of  three  Pamphlets,"  1823,  p.  34.  "Address  of  the 
Ti'ustees,"  Sept.,  1823,  p.  16.  See  letter  correctly  given  in  "A  Post- 
script to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Harold's  Address  to  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Phil- 
adelphia," pp.  16-17. 


REV.  D.  A.  GALLITZIN.  221 

self  so  disrespectfully  toward  his  Bishop  (the  late  Rt. 
Rev.  Dr.  Egan)  that  if  he  were  to  be  appointed  for 
Philadelphia,  serious  dissensions  and  recessions  from 
the  Church  might  justly  be  apprehended.'  The  Prop- 
aganda yielded  to  the  wishes  of  Bishop  Flaget,  and 
the  Rev.  Ambrose  Marechal  was  appointed.  That 
clergyman,  however,  declined  the  appointment  and  re- 
turned the  bulls,  although  Cardinal  Litta  urged  him 
to  accept  and  to  recognize  the  will  of  God  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Holy  See  ;'  but  as  he  persisted  in  his  re- 
fusal to  undertake  the  onerous  task,  bulls  appoint- 
ing Y.  Rev.  Louis  de  Earth  were  dispatched  in 
1818.' 

That  experienced  priest  had  meanwhile  endeavored 
to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  diocese  without  exciting 
any  fresh  discontent.  In  Western  Pennsylvania  Rev. 
Demetrius  Gallitzin  had  continued  his  laborious  min- 
istry, and  roused  by  the  attacks  made  on  Catholicity 
by  a  Protestant  minister,  on  a  day  appointed  by  govern- 
ment for  humiliation  and  prayer,  wrote  a  series  of 
articles  in  reply  which  attracted  general  attention,  and 
which  he  collected  and  printed  at  Pittsburg  in  1816, 
under  the  title,  "A  Defence  of  Catholic  Principles,  in 
a  Letter  to  a  Protestant  Minister."*  The  little  work 
was  widely  read,  and  served  to  open  the  eyes  of  many 
to   Catholic   truth.      Indeed,  it  became    a    standard 


'  Archbishop  Carroll  to  Cardinal  Litta,  Nov.  28,  1814.  The  lay  trus- 
tees of  St.  Mary's  addressed  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  in  favor  of  Harold, 
but  the  Propaganda,  Nov.  11,  1820.  in  reply  stated  that  His  Holiness  had 
not  found  in  him  the  qualities  necessary  for  a  bishop, 

2  Cardinal  Litta  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Dec.  23,  1815  ;  to  Archbishop 
Neale,  July  13,  1816. 

3  Same  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  April  1,  1818. 

4  144  pp.,  printed  by  S.  Engles.     Winchester,  Va.,  1818. 


222       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

manual ;  it  was  constantly  reprinted,  and  is  still 
sold. 

When  notice  of  liis  api3ointment  arrived,  Y.  Rev. 
Mr.  De  Bartli  drew  up  a  statement  showing  his  de- 
ficiency in  the  qualities  required  by  a  bishop,  and 
transmitting  them  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  he  said  : 
"I  declare  to  you,  Monseigneur,  that  if  you  do  not 
forward  my  objections  to  the  Holy  See,  and  His  Holi- 
ness sees  and  weighs  them,  I  will  not  accept,  but  will 
kneel  down  and  devoutly  put  the  bulls  in  the  fire,  as 
we  do  with  fragments  of  articles  that  have  been 
blessed.  Then  I  will  make  out  testimonials  for  my- 
self, signed  in  my  real  name,  as  Vicar-General,  and 
give  myself  anotlier  name  in  the  body  of  the  paper, 
and  then  farewell,  Monseigneur.  Neither  you  nor 
any  one  else  shall  ever  know  the  corner  of  the  globe 
where  I  shall  vegetate  the  few  years  still  left  me  to 
live." 

On  the  10th  of  October,  1816,  the  Catholics  in  a  val- 
ley ten  miles  west  of  G-ettysburg,  who  had  for  some 
years  possessed  a  cemetery  of  their  own,  encouraged 
by  the  Jesuit  Fathers  who  attended  them,  laid  the 
corner-stone  of  St  Ignatius,  or  the  Mountain  Church,  a 
little  structure,  40  by  70  feet.  This  same  year  the 
pious  Father  De  Andreis  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Missions,  on  his  way  to  St.  Louis,  reached  Pittsburgh 
at  a  moment  Avhen  Rev.  Mr.  O'Brien  was  off  attending 
one  of  his  remote  stations.  Pittsburg  could  boast  a 
church.  Its  poverty  did  not  alarm  the  good  Lazarist, 
but  the  pastor  had  the  only  chalice  with  him.  At 
last  a  pewter  chalice  was  found  in  one  place  and  a 
XJaten  in  another,  and  the  piety  of  priest  and  people 
was  gratified.  The  next  year  we  find  the  earnest 
Father  Matthew  Lekeu,  S.  J.,  at  Conewago,  and  two 
years  later  in  December,  1819,  York  received  its  first 


REV.  C.  B.  MAGUIRE.  223 

resident  priest  in  the  person  of  Rev.  Lorenz  Huber, 
About  the  same  time  mass  began  to  be  said  at  Blairs- 
ville  and  Cameron  Bottom.^ 

The  Rev.  Peter  Helbron,  after  years  of  devoted  ser- 
vice in  Westmoreland  County,  went  to  Philadelphia 
to  obtain  surgical  treatment  for  a  tumor  on  his  neck, 
but  died  at  Carlisle  on  his  homeward  journey.  He 
was  succeeded  in  his  mission  by  Rev.  Charles  B. 
Maguire. 

This  zealous  Franciscan  of  the  strict  observance, 
who  was  destined  to  labor  fruitfully  in  western  Penn- 
sylvania, arrived  in  1817,  with  faculties  from  Cardinal 
Litta,  which  were  indorsed  by  xVrchbishop  Marechal. 
He  had  taught  theology  at  St.  Isidore's  in  Rome,  had 
served  eight  years  in  Germany,  and  sjDoke  the  lan- 
guage of  that  country  fluently.  Very  Rev.  Mr.  De 
Barth  stationed  him  first  at  Ebensburg,  but  we  shall 
soon  see  him  in  charge  at  Pittsburgh.^ 

Philadelphia  diocese  needed  good  clergy,  as  some  of 
the  able  and  zealous  priests  were  sinking  under  their 
labors.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Erntzen  of  Goshenhoppen 
had  died,  and  was  soon  followed  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Byrne. 

Prince  Gallitzin's  missions  had  increased  beyond 
the  power  of  his  devoted  zeal  to  attend  satisfactorily, 
and  Rev.  Mr.  De  Barth  stationed  at  Bedford  Rev. 
Mr.  Kearns,  who  had  been  at  Chambersburg. 

The  condition  of  these  districts  required  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Administrator,  and  he  spent  some  time 

'  Lambing,  pp.  41,  254,  400,  etc. 

^  Very  Rev.  L.  de  Barth  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Sept.  23,  1817. 
His  name  was  sent  on  to  Rome  in  1820,  for  an  American  See,  by  the  Irisli 
bishops.  Few  priests  came  more  higlily  recommended,  with  a  letter 
from  Cardinal  Litta,  the  approbation  of  his  General  and  of  his  Bishop  iu 
Germany.     Lambing,  "  History  of  the  diocese  of  Pittsburg,"  p.  367. 


224       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

at  Goshenhoppen,  then  visited  Conewago,  Lancaster, 
and  Reading.^ 

Tlie  Very  Rev.  Administrator  had  received  into  the 
diocese,  and  placed  at  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Mr.  G.  D. 
Hogan  of  Limerick,  a  candidate  for  holy  orders,  who 
came  furnished  with  commendatory  letters.  A  cousin 
of  this  gentleman,  already  a  j^riest.  Rev.  William 
Hogan,  had  taken  up  temporarily  the  exercise  of  the 
ministry  in  the  diocese  of  New  York,  and  been  sta- 
tioned by  Bishoj)  Connolly  at  Albany.  As  he  wished 
to  be  in  the  same  diocese  with  his  kinsman,  he  ap- 
plied to  Archbishop  Marechal,  who  had  meanwhile 
ordained  his  relative  for  admission  into  the  diocese  of 
Baltimore,  but  meeting  no  encouragement  came  on  to 
Philadelphia,  where  V.  Rev.  Mr.  De  Barth  received  him 
conditionally,  apparently  on  tlie  representations  of  his 
relative,  as  he  came  without  his  credentials,  although 
he  promised  to  return  to  New  York  for  them,  with  an 
exeat  from  Bishop  Connolly. 

The  Very  Rev.  Administrator  soon  found  that  he 
had  acted  precipitately.  Rev.  Mr.  Hogan  not  only  in- 
stalled himself,  but  soon  began  to  show  a  sense  of  his 
own  importance.  The  house  which  had  been  occupied 
by  the  clergy,  and  the  attendance  there,  did  not  meet 
his  ideas,  and  he  took  board  in  the  city  to  make  him- 
self conspicuous,  and  he  began  to  show  a  turbulent 
disposition.  News  of  Bishop  ConwelFs  appointment 
had,  however,  arrived,  and  as  he  was  soon  expected 
the  Administrator  left  the  whole  affair  to  be  settled  by 
liim,  little  dreaming  of  the  misery  his  incautious  act 
was  to  entail  on  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia.  ^     The 

'Very  Rev.  L.  de  Barth  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  May  27,  July  5,  Nov. 
11.  1818,  Nov.  22,  1819. 

5  Rev.  W.  Hogan  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Aug.  27,  31,  1820.  Very 
Rev.  L.  de  Barth  to  same,  May  15,  24,  Sept.  20,  1820. 


COMING  TROUBLES.  225 

news  of  the  appointment  of  a  bishop  was  received  by 
the  Administrator  with  a  sense  of  great  relief. 

Other  troubles  came  toward  the  close  of  his  admin- 
istratorship. Two  German  priests  at  Conewago  and 
Little  York  gave  scandal,  and  he  was  compelled  to 
withdraw  their  faculties.  The  wretched  men  soon 
apostatized,  one  to  become  an  Episcopal  minister,  and 
leading  Orangeman  in  Upper  Canada.^ 

Acting  with  but  limited  powers,  and  without  the 
episcopal  dignity,  the  Very  Rev.  Louis  de  Barth  had 
endeavored  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  large  diocese. 
His  deep  sense  of  the  difficulties  in  prospect  had 
doubtless  been  one  motive  for  his  persistent  refusal 
of  the  episcopal  dignity.  He  wrote  to  Archbishop 
Marechal  in  February,  1820,  "Bishop  Con  well  will 
have  his  hands  full.  Lancaster,  Lebanon,  Little  York, 
and  Conewago  in  a  state  of  confusion";  but  he  did 
not  foresee  that  still  greater  trials  aAvaited  him  at 
Philadelphia.  Yet  the  conduct  of  the  trustees  of  St. 
Mary's  was  such  that  he  wrote  to  the  Metropolitan,  as 
early  as  March  27,  1818,  "They  will  soon  shut  the 
door  on  lawful  pastors." 

After  being  relieved  of  his  position  as  Administra- 
tor, Rev.  Mr.  De  Barth  continued  his  ministry  at 
Conewago  till  1828,  when  he  was  received  in  Baltimore 
diocese,  and  placed  in  charge  of  St.  John's  Church, 
Baltimore,  and  directed  the  congregation  for  ten  years. 
Li  1838,  age  and  increasing  infirmities  warned  him  to 
I)repare  for  his  departure,  and  he  withdrew  to  George- 
town College.  Here  he  lived  in  quiet  seclusion,  de- 
voting his  life  to  meditation  and  prayer.  In  the  last 
days  of  1843  he  stumbled  and  fell  while  going  up- 
stairs, and  though  at  first  he  showed  no  signs  of  injury, 

'  Very  Rev.  L.  de  Barth  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  May  18,  1820 


226       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  shock  proved  serious.  He  was  soon  unable  to 
leave  his  room,  and  to  console  the  aged  priest  mass 
was  offered  in  an  adjoining  apartment.  He  expired 
on  the  13th  of  October  about  live  o'clock,  his  brother 

SIGNATURE   OP   BISUOP  DE   BARTH. 

Colonel  de  Walbach  and  his  nephew  having  come  to 
his  dying  bed.  He  was  buried  on  the  15th,  Bishop 
Fenwick  of  Boston  offering  tlie  holy  sacrifice  and 
addressing  those  present  on  the  services  of  the  aged 
servant  of  God.' 

'  U.  S.  Catli.  Mag.,  iii.,  p.  745-6.      Georgetown  Record.     Letter  to 
Archbishop  Marechal,  Sept,  28,  1826. 


SEAL  OP  BISHOP  CONWELL. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

DIOCESE    OF    PHILADELPHIA. 

RT,  EEV.  HENRY    CON  WELL,  D.D.,  SECOND   BISHOP, 

1820-1842. 

Henry  Conwell  was  born  in  the  year  1745  in  the 
County  Derry,  Ireland.  His  family  had  founded  a 
bourse  in  the  Irish  College  at  Paris,  and  here  he  made 
his  ecclesiastical  studies.  While  a  seminarian  at  this 
famous  seat  of  learning,  which  in  the  days  of  the 
penal  laws  trained  so  many  priests  for  the  labors  and 
dangers  of  mission  life  in  Ireland,  yonng  Conwell  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  Benjamin  Franklin. 

After  completing  his  divinity  studies  he  was  or- 
dained in  1776,  the  year  when  the  Continental  Congress 
proclaimed  the  former  English  Colonies  to  be  Inde- 
pendent States,  and  issued  their  Declaration  in  the 
city  where  he  was  nearly  half  a  century  later  to  pre- 
side as  Bishop.  The  war  of  the  American  Revolution 
had  scarcely  closed,  however,  before  the  priest,  who 
had  been  employed  as  a  missionary  in  his  native  dio- 
cese, formed  the  project  of  devoting  himself  to  the 
service  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States.  Learning 
that  the  missions  in  this  country  had  been  organized 
under  a  Prefect  appointed  by  Pope  Pius  YI.,  he  wrote 
through  a  gentleman  in  Philadelphia  to  Father  Farmer 
to  offer  his  services  to  Dr.  Carroll.  The  venerable 
Farmer  sent  his  application  to  the  Prefect,  stating, 
"He  is  said  to  be  an  excellent  scholar  and  would  not 


228      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

refuse  to  be  employed  in  teaching. "  ^  A  favorable  open- 
ing seems  to  have  detained  him  in  Ireland,  and  he  be- 
came parish  priest  of  Diingarvan.  In  time  his  merit 
raised  him  to  the  important  position  of  Vicar- General 
of  the  diocese  of  Armagh,  and  on  the  death  of  Arch- 
bishop Richard  O'Reilly,  he  was  so  strongly  recom- 
mended as  a  fit  person  to  succeed  to  the  primacy  of 
all  Ireland,  that  when  Dr.  Curtis  was  finally  ap- 
pointed, the  Very  Rev,  Henry  Conwell  received  the 
option  of  the  sees  of  Philadelphia  or  Madras.  True  to 
his  earlier  preference  he  chose  that  of  Philadelphia. 
He  was  elected  to  the  see  on  the  26th  of  November, 
1819,  and  soon  received  his  bulls.  He  was  much  be- 
loved, and  the  people  of  his  parish,  supported  by  the 
clergy  of  the  diocese,  applied  to  the  primate  to  jjeti- 
tion  the  Pope  not  to  charge  the  Rev.  Dr.  Conwell  with 
so  heavy  a  burden  at  his  advanced  age.  The  authori- 
ties in  Rome,  however,  did  not  see  fit  to  alter  what 
had  already  been  decided.^ 

For  reasons  not  evident  Dr.  Conwell  forwarded  his 
bulls  to  Bishop  Poynter,  Vicar-Apostolic  of  the  Lon- 
don District,  who  advised  him  to  come  over  to  England, 
offering  to  act  as  consecrator.  St.  Bartholomew's  day, 
August  24,  1820,  was  selected  for  the  ceremony. 

After  receiving  episcopal  consecration,  Bisho})  Con- 
well made  the  necessary  preparations  for  his  voyage, 
and  sailed  from  Liverpool  with  Bernard  Keenan,  a 
young  ecclesiastic  whom  he  accepted  for  his  diocese. 

'  F.  Farmer  to  V.  Rev.  John  Carroll,  Nov.  29,  1785  ;  A.  C.  Hist.  Re- 
searches, v.,  pp.  41-3. 

« Prefect  of  the  Propaganda  to  Bishop  Plunkett,  Dec.  19,  1818;  Peti- 
tion from  Dungarvan,  Feb.  22,  1830.  Bishop-elect  Conwell  to  Cardinal 
Fontana,  in  itinere,  Aug.  1,  1830.  Notizie,  Rome,  1824,  p.  313  ;  Car- 
dinal Consalvi  to  Bishop-elect  Conwell,  Nov.  86,  1819.  Proceedings 
published  in  Irish  papers  of  the  time. 


RT.  REV.  HENRY  CONWELL,  SECOND   BISHOP  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 


HOGAN'S  CASE.  229 

They  landed  in  Baltimore  Nov.  21,  1820,  and  reached 
Philadelphia  on  the  2d  of  December.^ 

After  being  installed  in  his  see  Bishop  Conwell  was 
very  unfavorably  impressed  by  the  conduct  and  lan- 
guage of  Rev.  William  Hogan,  who  from  the  very  pul- 
pit of  the  cathedral  openly  ridiculed  the  Bishop  for  his 
simplicity  and  a  slight  hesitation  in  speech.  Finding 
that  he  was  not  actually  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of 
Philadelphia,  or  regularly  admitted  to  it  even  for 
temporary  service,  since  he  had  never  presented  his 
credentials,  Bishop  Conwell  on  the  12th  of  December 
revoked  all  faculties  given  by  V.  Rev.  Louis  de  Barth 
as  Administrator.'^ 

Rev.  William  Hogan  had,  however,  the  trustees  on 
his  side,  and  a  public  meeting  was  called  which 
adopted  an  address  to  the  Bishop,  asking  the  restora- 
tion of  Hogan,  and  concluding  with  a  falsehood  and  a 
veiled  threat :  "Perhaps  you  will  not  consider  it  irrel- 
evant to  state  that  St.  Mary's  Church  is  the  property 
of  the  laity,  and  the  clergy  are  supported  by  them."^ 
The  Bishop  in  a  mild  but  firm  reply  declared  that  he 
acted  under  a  sense  of  duty.  Another  meeting  was 
held  which  talked  of  reconciliation  as  though  the 
action  of  the  Bishop  was  merely  a  personal  quarrel 

'  Vallette,  "  Catholicity  in  Eastern  Pennsylvania,"  Catholic  Record, 
July,  1877. 

'Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Dec.  11,  1820  ;  Archbishop 
Marechal  to  Bishop  Poynter,  March  30,  1821. 

^Address  of  committee  and  meeting,  in  Hogan,  "An  Address  to 
the  Congregation  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  Philadelphia,"  pp.  19-20.  In 
the  address,  as  in  most  of  the  documents  by  the  trustees  and  their 
friends,  the  really  Protestant  ideas  of  the  men  appear.  Instead  of 
calling  Bishop  Conwell,  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  they  call  him,  in  the 
style  of  the  Protestant  Episcopalians.  Bishop  of  Pennsjivania.  Even 
Matthew  Carey  does  this,  and  as  a  rule  they  quote  the  Protestant  not 
the  Catholic  Bible. 


230       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

with  a  priest,  Hogan  then  issued  an  address  at- 
tacking the  character  of  the  Administrator  and  every 
priest  in  Pliikidelphia  ;  he  began  to  cite  extracts  from 
the  "  Corpus  Juris  Canonici,"  assuming  to  be  a  i)arish 
priest,  and  maintaining  that  canon  law  was  established 
in  this  country,  when  in  fact  it  never  had  been,  but 
the  Popes  expressly  treated  it  as  a  missionary  country. 
No  i^arish  had  ever  been  canonically  established  in  the 
original  diocese  of  Baltimore  or  its  divisions,  and 
there  were  consequently  no  parish  priests. 

Mr.  Hogan  also  called  upon  Archbishop  Marechal 
to  convene  a  provincial  council  of  all  the  bishops  to 
examine  his  case.  He  also  issued  a  forged  pastoral 
letter,  ascribed  to  Bishop  Conwell,  full  of  absurdities, 
and  entitled  in  Protestant  style,  "A  Charge."  Inves- 
tigation into  the  antecedents  of  Hogan  showed  that  in 
Ireland  and  America  he  had  manifested  a  desire  and 
inclination  to  renounce  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic 
Church  and  enter  the  Anglican  or  Protestant  Episco- 
pal body.  Archbishop  Marechal  replied  to  Hogan  : 
"  Rev.  Sir.  After  the  public  appeal  you  made  to  the 
congregation  of  St.  Mary's,  by  the  most  abominable 
pamphlet  that  has  ever  disgraced  the  Church  of  God 
in  this  country,  you  have  no  longer  anj^  right  what- 
ever to  call  on  me  as  Metropolitan.  No!  not  even 
under  the  vulgar  pretext  of  your  being  innocent  and 
persecuted."  Bishop  Connolly  declared  that  Hogan' s 
citations  "  were  artfully  calculated  to  lead  into  error 
those  who  were  ignorant  of  ecclesiastical  censures,  and 
that  the  pompous  quotations  contained  in  his  address 
avail  nothing,  not  being  to  the  purpose  as  regards  the 
simple  prohibition  given  to  a  clergyman  to  exercise 
his  clerical  functions." 

On  the  11th  of  February,  1821,  Bishop  Conwell  gave 
notice   to   the   congregation   of  his   canonical   steps, 


THE  TRUSTEES.  231 

taken  in  the  case  of  the  refractory  priest,  and  warning 
them  against  employing  his  ministry  or  attending  any 
service  that  he  might  attempt  while  suspended.^ 

Matthew  Carey,  a  well-known  citizen,  whose  influence 
in  the  cause  of  right  would  have  been  beneficial,  insidi- 
ously fanned  the  flames  of  discontent  by  publications 
scattered  far  and  wide,  even  after  Bishop  Conwell  had 
called  upon  him  and  assured  him  that  the  unworthy 
character  of  Rev.  Mr.  Hogan  was  callable  of  absolute 
proof.  But  Mr.  Carey  erected  himself  into  an  eccle- 
siastical court  and  pronounced  the  susjDension  of 
Hogan,  "a  violent  measure,  not  only  unsupported  by, 
but  contradictory  to  the  canons  of  the  Church,"  and 
assuming  the  judicial  powers  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff 
he  declared  that  "it  ought  to  be  immediately  with- 
drawn." ^  Public  meetings  were  held  at  which  Bishoj) 
Conwell  was  denounced  in  violent  language,  Hogan 
appealed  for  the  judgment  of  the  Bishops  of  Boston 
and  Charleston,  but  when  Bishop  Cheverus,  addressing 
the  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  after  reading  all  the  docu- 
ments, wrote,  "I  am  persuaded  that  you  had  more 
than  sufficient  reasons  for  withdrawing  his  faculties," 
Hogan  denied  the  genuineness  of  his  letter,  and  then 
his  competency  to  give  a  judgment ! 

Unfortunately,  bad  as  Hogan  Avas,  the  men  who 
supported  him  were  far  worse.  Bishoj)  England  justly 
says  of  many  that  they  "never  discharged  a  single 

'  "  Sundry  Documents  addressed  to  St.  Mary's  Congregation,"  Phila- 
delphia, 1821.  [Hogan],  "A  Brief  Reply  to  a  Ludicrous  Pamphlet  en- 
titled Sundry  Documents,"  48  pp.  The  forged  "  Charge  "  was  reprinted 
■with  a  Review,  and  though  the  forgery  was  patent  and  undeniable, 
Hogan's  advocates  constantly  cited  it  as  genuine. 

'■^  [M.  Carey],  "Address  to  the  Right  Rev.,  the  Bishop  of  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  Members  of  St.  Mary's  Congregation,"  4  pp.  "  Address 
to  the  Right  Rev.  Bishop  Conwell  and  the  Members  of  St.  Mary's  Con- 
gregation," 4  pp. 


2S2       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

duty  of  those  principally  obligatory  on  Catholics  ; 
they  and  the  other  members  of  their  party  were  not 
only  negligent  in  the  performance  of  positive  duty, 
but  either  from  ignorance  of  the  principles  of  the  re- 
ligion which  they  professed,  or  from  an  utter  dislike 
to  them,  were  hostile  to  Catholic  discipline."^  On 
this  point  the  evidence  is  overwhelming.  The  leaders 
were  not  practical  Catholics,  and  did  not  deny  the 
fact.  Even  Matthew  Carey,  who  late  in  life  edified  all 
by  his  piety,  was  at  this  time  so  indifferent  that  not 
one  of  his  children  had  ever  been  instructed  or  pre- 
pared to  receive  holy  communion.'  Knowing  and 
appreciating  but  slightly  the  doctrines  and  consola- 
tions of  the  Catholic  religion,  they  were  deeply  imbued 
witli  Protestant  ideas,  and  sought  to  force  them  on 
practical  Catholics. 

On  the  withdrawal  of  Hogan's  faculties,  that  head- 
strong priest  hired  a  Methodist  meeting-house  at  S850 
a  year,  and  projiosed  to  establish  an  Independent 
Catholic  church.^  This,  however,  did  not  suit  the 
views  of  the  trustees  of  St.  Mary's,  who  were  bent  on 
driving  the  Bishop  and  priests  empowered  by  him 
from  that  church  and  placing  a  tool  of  their  own  there. 
They  soon  acquired  complete  control  of  the  unfortu- 
nate priest.  Hogan  himself  declared  to  Bishop  Eng- 
land, "That  he  never  intended  opposing  the  Bishop, 
but  that  the  trustees  urged  and  prevailed  on  him  to 
do  so  ;  and  that  the  dread  of  their  vengeance  and 
exposure  was  what  kept  him  in  a  place  which  was  to 
him  the  worst  species  of  slavery,  and  from  which  he 
was  anxious  to  escape."  * 

'  Works,  v.,  p.  109. 

^  Bishop  Conwell,  letter,  Jan.  17,  1825. 

^  Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop  Marechal.  Jan.  31,  Feb.  5,  1821. 

^  Bishop  England  to  same,  Dec.  22,  1822. 


HOGAN  DISREGARDS  MONITION.  233 

The  trustees  then  excluded  the  Bishop  from  the 
"board  on  the  ground  that  he  was  not  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  called  public  meetings,  at  which 
great  excitement  prevailed  and  violent  collisions  took 
place.  Their  great  object  was  to  carry  the  approach- 
ing election  and  retain  their  power.  Many  real  Catho- 
lics protested  against  this  violent  and  irreligious 
course,  and  an  address  embodyingtheir  views  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Bishop  on  the  19th  of  April  by  Charles 
Johnson,  John  Carrell,  Cornelius  Tiers,  and  others. 

To  give  greater  effect  to  their  course  the  trustees 
forwarded  an  appeal  to  Rome  against  the  action  of  the 
Bishop,  though,  as  the  sequel  showed,  they  had  no  in- 
tention of  abiding  by  any  decision  of  the  Holy  See. 
The  election  was  held  on  the  23d,  and  the  matter  was 
so  manipulated  that  the  candidates  opposed  to  the 
Bishop  Avere  declared  to  be  elected.  Emboldened  by 
this  success,  the  trustees,  on  the  10th  of  May,  passed  a 
resolution  inviting  Rev.  Mr.  Hogan  to  resume  his 
functions  in  St.  Mary's  Church,  though  he  declared 
himself  to  belong  to  the  diocese  of  Limerick  and  had 
no  longer  any  faculties  in  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia. 
Bishop  Conwell,  on  the  15th,  gave  him  written  notice 
that  he  would  be  excommunicated  on  his  first  attempt 
to  perform  any  function  as  pastor  of  St.  Mary's. 

In  spite  of  this,  Hogan  officiated  at  a  funeral  on  the 
15th,  and  the  next  day,  Sunday,  said  mass  in  St. 
Mary's  Church,  which  had  been  closed  by  the  trus- 
tees the  previous  Sunday,  and  the  lawfully  appointed 
clergymen.  Rev.  Messrs.  Cummiskey  and  Hayden,  ex- 
cluded/ 

A  schism  was  thus  inaugurated.  The  church  was  in 
the  hands  of  men  who  had  expelled  the  Bishop  and 

'  Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  May  16,  1821. 


234        THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

his  clergy,  and  installed  a  priest  without  faculties,  and 
that  pending  an  appeal  on  their  side  to  Rome. 

Bishop  Conwell,  after  giving  Hogan  another  moni- 
tion, proceeded  to  the  stej)  of  final  excommunication. 
It  was  ^formally  pronounced  in  Saint  Augustine's 
Church,  on  the  27th  of  May,  by  the  Bishop  of  Philadel- 
phia in  person,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Hurley, 
Roloff,  Holland,  Cummiskey,  Hayden,  and  Doyle,  ac- 
cording to  the  form  jDrescribed  by  the  Roman  Pontifi- 
cal. The  Rev.  William  Hogan  was  cut  off  from  the 
Church  for  his  contumacy  and  j^erseverance  in  the 
disregard  of  all  authority,  and  for  having  usurped  and 
exercised  priestly  and  pastoral  functions  in  defiance 
of  the  Bishop's  prohibition,  frequently  repeated,  and 
made  under  XJain  of  excommunication.  After  reading 
the  j)rescribed  Latin  form,  a  free  translation  in  English 
was  given  to  enable  all  j)resent  to  understand  the 
nature  of  the  ceremony  by  which  a  disobedient  mem- 
ber of  the  Church  was  cut  off  from  all  communion 
with  it.^ 

Though  thus  driven  from  St.  Mary's  Church,  which 
Bishop  Egan  had  made  his  cathedral,  a  sanctuary  was 
open  to  him,  and  the  i^riests  appointed  to  St.  Mary's 
who  formally  withdrew.  "Thank  God,"  he  wrote, 
"our  little  church  here  of  St.  Joseph,  the  cradle  of 
Catholicity  through  all  these  Middle  and  Northern 
States,  does  not  belong  to  lay  trustees  ;  it  still  is  the 
property  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  which  planted  relig- 
ion in  this  country  and  should  never  be  forgotten." 

This  became  the  pro-cathedral  of  Bishop  Conwell, 
but  on  Christmas  night  the  rebellious  part  of  his  flock 
made  an  attempt  to  destroy  it.  A  piece  of  burning 
wood,  wrapped  in  paper,  was  placed  at  the  door  of  the 

'  Bishop  Conwe]!  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  June  15,  1823. 


STRANGE  AUTHORITIES.  235 

church  at  midnight,  but  when  the  door  actually  began 
to  blaze  it  was  fortunately  discovered,  the  fire  extin- 
guished, and  the  church  saved. 

Such  a  malignant  attempt  aroused  the  zeal  and  piety 
of  the  faithful.  A  subscription  was  opened  to  enlarge 
the  venerable  church  ;  a  thousand  dollars  was  soon 
contributed  and  work  began  on  the  addition,  while 
the  increased  piety  and  devotion  were  a  consolation  to 
the  Bishop.^  As  the  adherents  of  the  excommunicated 
priest  could  not  always  be  recognized  or  excluded 
from  the  churches,  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
offer  the  Holy  Sacrifice  had  not  Pope  Pius  VII.  given 
special  permission  to  meet  the  case.^ 

The  schismatics  endeavored  to  justify  their  position 
by  obtaining  the  opinions  of  two  Spanish  priests  then 
in  Philadelphia,  whom  they  represented  to  their  fol- 
lowers as  bishops,  but  who  were  men  who  had  never 
presented  any  credentials  to  any  bishop  in  the  United 
States  or  pretended  to  officiate  as  priests.  One  of 
these  was  a  wandering  Franciscan,  who  assumed  to 
have  been  Vicar-General  of  the  armies  of  Spain.  That 
office  was  always  held  by  bishops,  often  of  the  highest 
rank,  even  Cardinals  and  Archbishops  of  Toledo.  That 
Friar  John  Rico  ever  held  it  is  next  to  impossible. 
He  probably  acted  as  chaplain  to  some  insurgent 
band  which  adopted  the  pompous  title  of  "Armies 
of  Spain,"  for  in  Philadelphia  he  had  simply  been 
a  manufacturer  and  vender  of  cigars.  Leamy  and 
Meade  took  down  this  friar's  statement  as  to  the  law 
of  the  Church,  which  the  friar  did  not  sign,  and  pub- 
lished it  in  pamphlet  form,  as  decisive  on  the  question 


'  Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Jan.  22,  1821,  June  18, 
1821. 

'  Decretum  sacrae  Congregationis  de  Propaganda  Fide,  July  18,  1822. 


236       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

between  the  Bishop  and  the  men  elected  by  pew  and 
seat-holders.^ 

Another  pretended  bishop   whose   authority  schis- 
matics invoked  was  the  Rev.  Servandus  A.  Mier,  one 
of  the  strangest  characters  in  the  revolutionary  history 
of  Mexico.     Appointed  to  preach  on  the  feast  of  Onr 
Lady  of  Guadalupe,  patroness  of  New  Spain,  he  scan- 
dalized  his   hearers   by  a  tierce  denunciation   of   all 
devotion   to   the  Blessed   Virgin.     Arrested   for  this 
attack  on  the  recognized  doctrine  and  practice  of  the 
Church,  he  was  imprisoned  by  the  court  of  the  inqui- 
sition, but,  escaping  during  the  political  troubles,  he 
made  his  way   to  England.     There   he   fell   in   with 
Blanco  White,  and  other  Spaniards,  imbued  with  the 
prevailing  infidel  ideas  :  but  did  not  openly  renounce 
the   faith.      AVlien   General   Mina   was    forming   his 
expedition  against  Mexico,  Mier  joined  him,  and  after 
the  force  reached  the  coast  Mier  was  left  with  part  of 
the  forces  at  Soto  la  Marina  in  Tamaulipas,  south  of 
the  Rio  Grande.     Here  he  j)assed  himself  off  as  Bishop 
of    Baltimore,    performed    episcopal    functions,    and 
crowned  his  impiety  by  offering  the  holy  sacrifice  with 
pulque,  a  liquor  made  from  the  magiiey  plant,  instead 
of  wine.     His  sacrilegious  course  drew  from  the  gov- 
ernors of  the  diocese  of  Linares  a  special  address  to 
the  faithful.     Captured  by  Spanish  troops  at  Soto  la 
Marina  he  was  again  incarcerated  for  his  Irreligious 
conduct,    but    finally    reached    Philadelphia.      This 
utterly  worthless  character  was  appealed  to  by  Hogan 
and  his  party  as  an  authority.     Like  the  Rev.  John 
Rico,  Mier  decided  that  Bishop  Conwell  was  a  repro- 
bate, and   that  a  priest    coming  from   abroad   with 

'  The  opinion  of  tlie  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  John  Rico,  of  the  order  of  St.  Francis, 
D.D.,  and  Vicar-General  of  the  "  Armies  of  Spain,"  etc.,  1821  ;  Bishop 
Conwell  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  June  20,  1821. 


RE  VOL  UTIONAR  Y  IDEAS.  237 

faculties  from  his  own  bisliop  lias  a  perfect  riglit  to 
act  under  them  in  a  missionary  country,  without  au- 
thority from  the  local  bishop.  They  indorsed  all 
Hogan's  citations  from  the  canons  as  being  still  the 
law  of  the  Church,  applicable  to  the  condition  of  affairs 
in  Philadelphia/ 

Aware  that  there  were  turbulent  men  in  New  York, 
Norfolk,  and  Charleston,  Leamy,  Ashley,  Meade,  and 
their  confederates  next  endeavored  to  make  a  gen- 
eral schism  in  the  Church  in  the  United  States.  They 
issued,  on  the  18th  of  June,  an  address  which  stands 
as  a  perpetual  monument  of  their  iniquity.  It  was 
entitled,  "Address  of  the  Committee  of  St.  Mary's 
Church  of  Philadelphia,  to  their  brethren  of  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Faith  throughout  the  United  States  of 
America,  on  the  subject  of  a  reform  of  certain  abuses 
in  the  administration  of  our  Church  Discipline." 
These  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  elected  by  seat 
hirers  under  a  state  law,  a  body  not  recognized  by  any 
canons  of  the  Church,  men  who  admitted  that  they  did 
not  approach  the  sacraments,  say:  "Owing  to  the 
arbitrary  and  unjustifiable  conduct  of  certain  foreign- 
ers, sent  amongst  us  by  the  Junta  or  Commission, 
directing  the  Fide  Propaganda  of  Rome,  imperiously 
call  on  us  to  adopt  some  measures  by  which  an  uniform 
system  may  be  established  for  the  future  regulation  of 

'  "  Opinion  of  the  Right  Rev.  Servandus  A.  Mier,"  etc.,  July  11, 1821, 
pp.  16;  Robinson,  "  Memoirs  of  the  Mexican  Revolution,"  p.  177  ; 
Alaman,  "  Historia  de  Mejico,"  Mexico,  1850,  iii.,  p.  64  ;  iv.,  pp.  550-595  ; 
Libro  de  Gobierno  de  San  Antonio,  Texas.  The  whole  of  Mier's 
theories  was  demolished  in  a  very  clear  pamphlet,  "Remarks  on  the 
Opinion  of  the  Right  Rev.  Servandus  A.  Mier,"  etc.,  Philadelphia,  1821, 
8  pp.  The  trustees  tried  to  make  people  believe  that  Mier  was  a  nuncio, 
sent  by  the  Pope  to  regulate  the  church  in  the  United  States,  and  to 
sanction  its  independ'ince.  Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop  Marechal, 
June  20,  1821. 


238       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

our  churches  ;  the  propagation  of  our  holy  Faith  by 
the  nomination  and  selection  of  proper  pastors  from 
our  own  citizens,  from  whom  alone  ought  to  be  chosen 
our  bishops,  without  our  being  compelled  to  depend 
on  persons  sent  to  us  from  abroad,  who  have  uniformly 
shown  themselves  hostile  to  our  institutions."  After 
stigmatizing  the  bishops  of  the  country,  except  Dr. 
Carroll,  as  "a  disgrace  to  our  religion,"  who  attempted 
to  introduce  "superstition  and  ignorance,"  they  had 
the  effrontery  to  speak  for  the  Catholics  of  the  United 
States  and  assume  to  represent  them.  "  We  claim  the 
exclusive  right,  which  always  belonged  to  the  Church, 
of  electing  our  own  pastors  and  bishops."  Their  pur- 
pose evidently  was  to  elect  laymen,  for  they  proceeded 
to  claim  that  the  bishop  elected  by  the  trustees  and 
congregation  of  each  State  shall  be  ordained  in  this 
country,  and  receive  the  bull  as  a  matter  of  course. 
No  priest  in  the  church  which  these  men  proposed  to 
establish  was  to  be  suspended  until  tried  by  three  or 
more  priests  of  distinct  States.  They  proposed  to  send 
a  person  to  Rome  "with  full  powers  and  authority 
from  the  Catholics  of  the  United  States  and  enter  into 
a  regular  and  written  agreement  with  our  holy  father, 
the  Pox)e,"  to  obtain  these  regulations  of  bishops  and 
clergy,  but  they  did  not  recommend  any  obedience  on 
the  part  of  the  laity. 

A  calm  and  temperate  reply  to  this  audacious 
address,  after  exposing  the  misstatements  and  impiety 
of  Ashley  and  his  associates,  well  said,  "We  have 
every  reason  to  suppose  that  their  present  unhappy 
state  is  owing  to  their  former  neglect  in  not  attend- 
ing to  the  duties  of  their  religion ;  let  us  tremble 
for  ourselves  ;  the  same  cause  Avill  have  the  same 
effect  on  us  if  we  act  in  the  same  manner."  ^     It  is 

■  "  Address  to  the  Roman  Catholics  of  tlie  United  States  by  a  Lay- 


HERETICAL  CATECHISM.  239 

needless  to  say  that  this  anticatliolic  and  revolu- 
tionary appeal  met  no  encouraging  response  from  any 
part  of  the  United  States, 

That  the  schismatics  had  absolutely  lost  the  faith  is 
apparent  from  an  edition  of  Butler's  catechism  issued 
by  them,  revised  by  Rev.  W.  Hogan.  In  it  the  chap- 
ter on  Confession  and  Indulgences  was  suppressed, 
and  in  the  10th  lesson  perfect  contrition  was  declared 
to  be  the  only  remedy  for  actual  mortal  sin.  This 
catechism  the  Bishop  promptly  condemned,  warning 
the  faithful  against  its  use.^ 

During  this  time  the  trustees  paid  a  salary  to  Rev. 
Mr.  Hogan,  but  refused  to  make  any  payment  to  the 
Bishop  or  the  priests  whom  he  had  ajjpointed  to  St. 
Mary's.  Cut  off  in  this  way  from  the  usual  resources 
of  his  x^i'sdecessor.  Dr.  Con  well  was  crippled  for 
means  in  making  visitations  to  the  various  parishes 
of  his  diocese.  Religion  suffered  not  only  in  Phila- 
delphia, but  in  all  parts  of  Pennsylvania.  Yet 
Catholicity  was  making  some  gain.  On  January 
1st,  1821,  Bishop  CouAvell  ordained  Rev.  Bernard 
Keenan,  and  on  May  1st,  Rev.  Thomas  Heyden, 
both  destined  to  labor  long  and  well.  Rev.  Terence 
McGirr  became  a  missionary  in  Westmoreland  County 
and  the  next  year  erected  a  log  church,  which  has 
lasted  to  our  times.  This  humble  shrine  he  dedicated 
to  our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel.  The  Rev.  Cliarles 
Ferry  took  up  his  residence  in  1821  at  St.  Patrick's 

man  of  St.  Mary's  Congregation,"  Philadelphia,  July,  1821.  "A 
Republication  of  two  Addresses,"  etc.,  New  York,  121.  In  a  violent 
reply,  "  An  Answer  to  the  Address  of  a  Catholic  Layman,"  Phila- 
delphia, July  27,  1821,  the  neglect  of  the  trustees  to  approach  the 
sacraments  was  admitted,  but  was  justified  by  the  fact  that  there  were  no 
suitable  confessors  in  the  city  ! 

^  Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  June  18,  1821. 


240       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Church,  Sugar  Creek,  and  began  to  attend  a  liundred 
and  forty  Catholic  families,  scattered  over  an  area 
of  thirty  miles  square.  Father  Charles  B.  Maguire 
found  his  Pittsburgh  congregation  so  much  increased 
in  numbers  and  in  si)irit,  many  now  coming  forward 
who  had  been  ashamed  of  their  faith,  that  he  enlarged 
his  church,  and  in  a  few  years  added  galleries.^ 

Bishop  Conwell  made  some  visitations  near  Phila- 
delphia, as  we  find  him  in  September,  1821,  at  Cone- 
wago.  At  the  suggestion  of  some  persons,  and 
ignorant  of  his  previous  career  in  the  diocese.  Bishop 
Conwell  had  invited  from  the  Corjpo  Santo  Convent  at 
Lisbon,  Father  William  V.  Harold.  He  arrived  on 
the  2d  of  December  and  became  Secretary,  and  sub- 
sequently Vicar-General,  but  he  failed  to  exercise  the 
influence  anticipated  in  recalling  the  schismatics  back 
to  the  Catholic  Church. 

In  the  autumn  of  1821  Bishop  Conwell  resolved  to 
visit  Canada  in  order  to  appeal  to  the  generosity  of 
the  clergy  at  Quebec  and  Montreal  to  aid  his  little 
faithful  flock  in  the  work  they  had  undertaken.  His 
Canada  visit  had  also  another  object.  This  was  the 
establishment  of  an  Ursuline  convent  in  Philadelphia, 
three  young  ladies  of  means  wishing  to  enter  the 
religious  life  under  the  rule  of  St.  Angela.  He  hoped 
to  arrange  with  the  convent  at  Quebec  to  receive  them 
as  novices  and  send  them  back  with  some  experienced 
nuns  to  found  the  proposed  house. ^ 

Before  this.  Bishop  England  of  Charleston  passed 
through  Philadelphia  on  his  way  to  New  York.  He 
was  followed  by  Hogan,  who  offered  to  be  guided  by 

'  Bishop  Conwell  to  Cardinal  Fontana,  Jan.  7,  1822.  Lambing,  p. 
368,  415.     Truth  Teller,  1.,  p.  19. 

*  Bishop  Conwell  to  Bishop  Plessis,  Quebec,  Oct.  25,  1821  ;  "  Les 
Ursulines  de  Quebec,"  iii.,  p.  508. 


BISHOP  ENGLAND.  241 

the  Bishop  of  Charleston.  About  the  middle  of  Octo- 
ber Dr.  England  saw  Bishop  Conwell  in  New  York, 
and  obtained  permission  to  absolve  Hogan,  if  he 
would  leave  Philadelphia,  and  enter  the  diocese  of 
Charleston,  Further  than  this  Bishop  Conwell  would 
not  go.  Bishop  England  then  went  to  Philadelphia 
with  the  Rev.  John  Power  as  his  secretary.  Rev.  Mr. 
Hogan  asked  to  be  received  into  the  diocese  of  Charles- 
ton, was  received  by  Bishop  England,  who,  under  the 
power  conferred  by  Bishop  Conwell,  absolved  him 
from  his  excommunication.  Bishop  England  cau- 
tioned him,  as  a  priest  of  his  diocese,  not  to  attempt  to 
officiate  in  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia.  But  Ashley, 
Leamy,  and  Fagan  reproached  Hogan  for  deserting 
them  and  persuaded  the  unfortunate  priest  to  officiate 
on  Sunday  once  more  in  St.  Mary's  Church.  Bishop 
England  had  no  alternative  but  to  renew  the  sentence 
of  excommunication.  His  conduct  was  cruelly  mis- 
represented by  the  schismatics,  and  so  prepossessed 
was  Bishoj)  Conwell  against  him  that  it  required  a 
series  of  letters  to  justify,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Bishop 
of  Philadelphia,  the  efforts  made  with  the  best  inten- 
tions, but  which  proved  so  futile.^ 

The  legislature  of  Pennsylvania,  whom  the  trustees 

'  Diary  of  Bishop  England,  Sept.  5— Oct.  21, 1821.  Rev.  J.  Power  to 
Bishop  Plessis,  Nov.  6, 1831.  Hogan,  "An  Answer  to  a  Paragraph  con- 
tained in  the  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,"  Phila.,  1822,  p.  39  ;  England, 
"  Letters  to  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Conwell,"  Works,  v.,  pp.  118-168;  Hogan, 
"  A  Reply  to  Sundry  Letters,"  1822,  again  reprinting  the  forged 
"Charge "of  Bishop  Conwell  Bishop  Conwell  to  Cardinal  Fontana, 
Feb.  8,  1822.  Bishop  England  to  same,  Oct.  9, 1821,  in  "  Sacra  Congre- 
gazione  de  Propaganda  Fide  .  ,  .  Ristretto,"  Rome,  1822.  Bishop 
England  says  well  of  these  schismatics  :  "  These  men  are  not  Roman 
Catholics.  Let  the  test  of  Catholicity  be  applied  to  them.  Let  them  be 
required  to  subscribe  the  authorized  profession  of  Catholic  faith,  and 
the  infidel  will  soon  stand  openly  confessed.  In  every  age,  in  every 
nation,  the  pretexts  of  error  have  been  the  same."  v.,  p.  169. 


242       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

petitioned  for  an  amendment  to  the  charter  of  St. 
Mary's  Church,  by  which  the  clergy  of  the  church 
were  to  be  deprived  of  their  seats  as  members  of  the 
board,  passed  an  act  on  the  20th  of  March,  1821, 
which  authorized  the  Supreme  Court  to  allow  amend- 
ments to  the  charter.  A  meeting  of  Hogan's  adherents 
was  soon  after  held  at  which  amendments  were  pro- 
posed, and  in  consequence  an  application  was  made 
to  the  Supreme  Court  to  effect  this  object. 

In  January,  1822,  the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsyl- 
vania decided  adversely  to  the  proposed  amendment 
of  the  charter  of  St.  Mary's  Church.  Bishop  Con  well, 
and  the  priests  appointed  by  him  under  this  decision, 
attemj)ted  to  officiate  at  the  altar,  but  they  were 
ex]3elled  forcibly  by  Hogan  and  his  party.  Rev.  Mr. 
Harold  who  ascended  the  pulpit  barely  escaping  with 
his  life.^ 

After  this  the  tide  of  public  opinion  was  evidently 
against  the  trustees,  who  saw  many  of  their  deluded 
adherents  fall  away.  They  had  now  ground  to  fear 
that  the  real  Catholic  members  of  St.  Mary's  Church 
would  at  the  next  election  put  in  a  board  in  harmony 
with  the  Bishop.  To  defeat  this,  they  built  twenty- 
six  new  pews,  deciding  on  this  course  at  a  meeting  of 
which  the  clergy  were  not  notified.  These  pews  they 
let  out  in  single  seats,  so  that  at  the  election  they  polled 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  votes.  This  gave  a  majority 
against  the  Catholic  party.  It  was  not  pretended 
that  the  men  voting  from  these  pews  were  Catholics, 
or  had  ever  attended  the  church.^    The  provision  in 

'  Archbishop  Marechal  to  Mgr.  Pedicini,  Secretary  of  Propaganda,  Mar. 
29,  1822.  Bishop  Conwell  lo  Propaganda,  Phila.,  Jan.  7,  1822.  Same 
to  Bishop  Plessis,  Jan.  6,  1822. 

■^  Matthew  Carey  states  in  his  "Desultory  Examination,"  1822,  p. 
41-3,  that  by  tliis  trick  1200  votes  were  actually  polled,  when  in  fact 
"  the  votes  ought  not  to  be  more  than  250  or  300." 


'' NON  SINE  MAGNO:'  243 

tlie  charter  of  this  church  and  similar  charters  else- 
where, had  this  great  injustice  to  which  no  Protestant 
congregation  would  have  submitted.  With  them  the 
power  is  vested  in  the  Church  members,  persons  of 
both  sexes,  of  correct  life,  who  show  themselves  at- 
tached to  the  doctrines  and  frequent  the  ordinances  of 
the  denomination.  This  body,  which  can  expel  any 
member  who  neglects  his  duties  or  becomes  disedify- 
ing,  elect  the  managing  board.  Catholic  congrega- 
tions were  at  the  mercy  of  men  elected  by  those  who 
were  required  to  give  no  proof  of  their  being  Catholics, 
attendants  at  the  church,  or  frequenters  of  the  sacra- 
ments, but  who  were  men  who  could  produce  a  receipt 
for  a  quarter's  rent  of  a  single  seat.  Women,  though 
regular  attendants,  and  even  owners  or  hirers  of  whole 
pews,  had  no  voice  as  in  Protestant  churches,  but 
were  excluded  from  all  rights. 

The  schismatics  felt  their  position  insecure,  and 
soon  after  Hogan  himself  proposed  to  leave  Philadel- 
phia on  being  absolved  from  censure  by  Bishop  Con- 
well,  but  as  in  the  case  of  Bishop  England  this  step 
was  prevented  by  the  trustees.^  At  the  time  when 
the  unfortunate  priest  was  thus  throwing  away  his 
last  hope  of  being  able  to  persevere  in  his  vocation 
and  ministry,  the  Holy  Father,  Pope  Pius  VII.,  by 
his  Brief  "  Non  sine  magno,"  addressed  to  Arch- 
bishop Marechal,  his  suffragans,  all  boards  of  trus- 
tees, and  the  faithful  in  general,  condemned  Hogan 
for  his  attacks  on  the  Bishop,  for  withdrawing  the 
faithful  from  their  lawful  pastor,  for  calling  a  council 
of  bishops  to  depose  his  bishop,  and  hnally  for 
intruding  himself  into  the  cathedral  church,  from 
which  he  had  expelled  the  Bishop.     The   Sovereign 

'  A.  C.  Historical  Researches,  iii.,  pp.  34-5  ;  i.,  p.  139. 


244       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Pontiff  expressed  astonishment  and  indignation  that 
"in  so  manifest  a  contempt  of  all  law  he  could  find 
many  followers,  supporters,  and  defenders  of  his 
pride  and  contumacy,  who,  neglecting  and  despising 
the  authority  of  the  Bishop,  would  rather  adhere  to 
him  than  to  their  lawful  pastor,  from  whom  thej^  have 
not  hesitated  to  withdraw  even  the  means  necessary 
for  the  sustenance  of  life."  The  Pope  declared  all  the 
acts  sacrilegiously  and  daringly  performed  by  Hogan 
to  be  null  and  void.  He  continues,  "There  is  another 
circumstance  which  affords  continual  cause  of  discord 
and  contention,  not  only  in  Philadelphia,  but  also 
in  many  other  places  of  the  United  States  of  America  ; 
the  immoderate  and  unlimited  right,  which  trustees 
or  the  administrators  of  the  temporal  properties  of 
churches  assume,  independently  of  the  diocesan 
bishops.  Indeed,  unless  this  be  circumscribed  by  cer- 
tain regulations,  it  may  prove  an  eternal  source  of 
abuses  and  dissensions.  Trustees  then  ought  to  bear 
in  mind,  that  the  properties  which  have  been  conse- 
crated to  divine  worship  for  the  support  of'  the 
Church  and  for  the  maintei.iance  of  its  ministers,  fall 
under  the  i)Ower  of  the  Church  ;  and  since  the  bishops, 
by  divine  appointment,  preside  over  their  respective 
churches,  they  cannot  by  any  means  be  excluded  from 
the  care,  superintendence,  and  administration  of  these 
properties.  Whence  the  holy  Council  of  Trent,  sess. 
22,  cap.  9  de  Ref.,  after  having  established  that  the 
administrators  of  the  edifice  of  every  church,  even 
of  a  cathedral,  and  of  all  pious  institutions,  were 
bound  every  year  to  render  to  the  ordinary  an  account 
of  their  administration,  expressly  ordered  that  al- 
though, according  to  the  particular  usages  of  some 
countries,  the  account  of  the  administration  was  to  be 
rendered  to  other  persons  appointed  for  that  purpose, 


PIUS  VII.  ON  TRUSTEES.  245 

nevertheless  the  ordinary  must  be  called  in,  together 
with  them.  If  the  trustees,  in  conformity  to  this 
decree,  were  to  administer  the  temporalities  of  the 
Church  in  union  of  mind  and  heart  with  the  bishop, 
everything  would  be  performed  peaceably,  and  ac- 
cording to  order. 

"But  that  trustees  and  laymen  should  arrogate  to 
themselves  the  right,  as  it  has  sometimes  happened  in 
these  countries,  of  establishing  for  pastors,  priests 
destitute  of  legal  faculties,  and  even  not  unfrequently 
bound  by  censures  (as  it  appears  was  lately  the  case 
with  regard  to  Hogan),  and  also  of  removing  them  at 
their  pleasure,  and  of  bestowing  the  revenues  upon 
whom  they  please,  is  a  practice  new  and  unheard  of 
in  the  Church.  And  if  these  things  have  been  per- 
formed in  the  manner  in  which  it  has  been  announced 
to  us,  how  could  so  great  a  subversion  of  laws,  not 
only  ecclesiastical  but  divine  also,  be  borne  with  ( 
For  in  that  case  the  Church  would  be  governed,  not  by 
bishops,  but  by  laymen  ;  the  shepherd  would  be  made 
subject  to  his  flock,  and  laymen  would  usurp  that 
power  which  was  given  by  Almighty  God  to  bishops. 
But  those  who  are  desirous  of  remaining  in  the  bosom 
of  their  Mother,  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  and  of 
providing  for  their  eternal  salvation,  are  bound  relig- 
iously to  observe  the  laws  of  the  universal  Church  ; 
and  as  the  civil  autliorities  must  be  obeyed  in  those 
things  which  are  temporal,  so  also  in  those  which  are 
spiritual  must  the  faithful  comply  with  the  laws  of 
the  Church,  not  confounding  the  spiritual  with  the 
temporal.  In  order  then  to  avoid  the  dissensions  and 
disturbances  which  frequently  arise  from  the  un- 
bounded power  of  trustees,  we  have  provided,  vener- 
able brothers,  that  certain  regulations  and  instruc- 
tions concerning  the  choice  and  direction  of  trustees 


246       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

should  be  transmitted  to  you,  to  which,  we  are  confi- 
dent, the  trustees  Avill  thoroughly  conform  them- 
selves. If  these  be  observed,  all  things,  we  trust,  will 
be  settled  rightly,  and  peace  and  tranquillity  will 
again  flourish  in  these  regions."^ 

It  was  the  first  time  that  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  had 
addressed  a  special  brief  to  the  hierarchy  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  the  faithful,  with  a  direct  reference  in 
the  title  to  the  boards  of  trustees  throughout  the 
United  States.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  under 
these  circumstances  the  weighty  words  of  the  Head 
of  the  Catholic  Church  would  have  been  received  by 
the  faithful  with  deference  and  submission,  prompted 
by  their  attachment  to  the  religion  of  their  ancestors. 

Even  Rev.  Mr.  Hogan  when  the  Brief  was  made 
known  to  him  showed  a  disposition  to  submit  and  j)ut 
an  end  to  the  schism,  but  the  malign  infiuence  of  the 
trustees  again  j^revailed  and  his  good  intentions  ended 
in  a  personal  wrangle  with  Rev.  William  Y.  Harold.^ 
The  trustees  showed  absolutely  that  they  were  utterly 
beyond  the  pale  of  the  Church,  inasmuch  as  the 
Bishop  of  the  diocese,  the  whole  hierarchy  of  the 
United  States,  and  finally  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  him- 
self was  against  them  ;  but  they  would  not  yield,  they 
stood  defiant,  resolute  to  obey  no  authority  whatever 
in  the  Church,  and  to  have  no  priest  but  one  subject 
to  their  beck  and  call. 

At  the  election  in  the  following  spring  the  authori- 
ties took  measures  to  prevent  a  riot.  The  result  was 
indecisive  ;  both  parties  claimed  to  have  elected  a 
board  of  trustees,  but  the  adherents  of  the  Bishop,  on 


'  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  Rome,  1841,  iv.-,  pp.  401-4.     Eng- 
land's Works,  v.,  pp.  178-9. 

^  Dec,  1822. 


THE  SCHISM  CONTINUES.  247 

attempting  to  enter  the  church,  were  again  driven  out 
by  force.  ^  An  appeal  was  made  to  the  law,  the  lower 
court  decided  against  the  Catholic  party,  and  though 
the  case  was  carried  up  on  appeal,  the  church  was 
still  held  by  the  schismatics,  in  utter  disregard  of 
the  decision  of  the  Pope  on  the  points  of  Catholic  dis- 
cipline. 

Weary  of  the  incessant  strife  and  the  scandalous 
scenes  which  resulted  from  it,  the  aged  Bishop  retired 
for  a  time  after  the  Easter  holidays  to  the  seclusion  of 
Mount  St.  Mary's  College  at  Emmitsburg,  and  then 
visited  Baltimore  and  Georgetown,  hoping  that  the 
sectarian  rancor  would  be  abated  by  his  absence." 

In  June,  1823,  the  trustees,  whom  Hogan  s  friends 
claimed  to  have  elected,  addressed  Bishop  Conwell. 
Utterly  ignoring  and  treating  with  contempt  the  points 
defined  in  the  Brief  of  Pope  Pius  VII.,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  lay  down  their  terms  of  settlement.  They 
would  not  recognize  that  St.  Mary's  Church  was  the 
Bishop's  cathedra]  or  that  he  was  by  his  appointment 
chief  pastor  ;  they  claimed  the  inherent  right  to  nomi- 
nate and  present  such  priests  as  they  might  i^lease 
to  select  for  pastors  of  said  church,  who  were  to  be 
inducted  and  continue  as  pastors  during  good  be- 
havior ;  they  agreed  to  acknowledge  Dr.  Conwell  as 
Bishop  of  the  diocese,  but  not  as  pastor  of  St.  Mary's 
Church,  and  asked  to  have  Hogan  and  another  priest 
of  their  selection  acknowledged  as  pastors.  The 
Bishop,  of  course,  could  not  consent  to  any  such  prin- 
ciples, and  the  correspondence  led  to  no  result,  as  the 
trustees  not  only  would  not  abandon  a  single  one  of 
the  uncatholic  principles  they  advocated,  but  went  so 


'  April,  1823. 

2  Bishop  Conwell  to  Bishop  Plessis,  July  4,  1822. 


248       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

far  as  to  say,  ''If  the  United  States  are  still  to  be 
considered  a  missionary  country,  then  bishops  are 
unnecessary,  and  the  trustees  will  engage  as  their 
pastors  such  missionaries  as  they  may  think  proper." 
They  evidently  considered  faculties  from  a  bishop  as 
utterly  unnecessary. 

Hogan  finally  wearied  of  the  struggle  and  proposed 
to  resign.^  The  trustees  accepted  his  resignation  and 
proceeded,  in  the  very  face  of  the  Brief  of  Pope  Pius 
Vil.,  to  appoint  as  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church  an 
unworthy  adventurer,  Rev.  A.  Inglesi,  who  had  im- 
posed upon  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  and  whose  career  had 
been  fully  exposed  at  Rome.  But  he  came  to  Phila- 
delphia with  means,  and  had  many  paintings  and 
other  valuables,  the  fruit  of  his  European  collections 
for  Louisiana.  He  had  secured  the  sui3port  of  the 
Sardinian  consul  at  Philadelphia,  and  pleased  the 
trustees.  Ashley,  Meade,  Sullivan  and  their  com- 
rades did  not  even  go  through  the  form  of  presenting 
him  for  the  Bishop's  approval,  they  assumed  the  right 
to  elect  and  institute.^ 

The  hope  of  restoring  the  discipline  of  the  Church 
was,  therefore,  very  slight,  although  Hogan,  pretext 
and  mover,  had  withdrawn.  Bishop  Conwell  accord- 
ingly visited  Canada,  which  had  generously  responded 
to  his  appeal,  to  obtain  aid  in  a  project  which  he  had 

'  Hogan's  resignation  was  accepted  Aug.  28,  1823;  "Appendix  to  the 
Address."  Archbishop  Marechal  was  in  Rome  when  Inglesi's  real  cliar- 
acter  was  discovered  and  he  was  expelled  from  Rome.  See  his  letter  in 
"  A  Postscript  to  Rev.  Mr.  Harold's  address,"  p.  25-6.  The  Propaganda 
formally  condemned  Inglesi  and  requested  Consul  De  Abbate  not  to  pro- 
tect him.  Inglesi  drew  up  a  pamphlet  assailing  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  but 
suppressed  it.  Inglesi  soon  went  to  the  West  Indies  and  died  at  Port  au 
Prince,  St.  Domingo,  June  13,  1825.     Letter  of  Bishop  Conwell. 

2 Bishop  Conwell  to  Bishop  Plessis,  Sept.  18,  Oct.  13,  1823.  "Ad- 
dress of  the  Trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Church,"  Philadelphia,  1823. 


A  CATHEDRAL  PROJECTED. 


249 


formed  of  erecting  a  Cathedral  in  Philadelphia.     Re- 
turning by  way  of  Boston  he  found  Bishop  Cheverus 
ready  to  leave  the  country,  and  accompanied  him  to 
the  vessel  which  sailed  soon  after  from  New  York. 
Before  winter  passed  away  we  find  Bishop  Conwell  at 
Philadelphia  in  February,  1824,  baptizing  the  infant 
son  of  Prince  Charles  Julius  Bonaparte  and  the  Prin- 
cess Zeriaide.     Joseph  Bonaparte,  who  had  been  King 
of  Naples  and  of  Spain,  was  godfather,  and  the  mother 
of  the  great  Napoleon,  represented  by  proxy,  was  god- 
mother.    On  this  occasion  Joseph  Bonaparte  presented 
Bishop  Conwell  with  a  relic  of  great  interest.     It  was 
a  ring  set  with  diamonds  which  had  been  worn  by  the 
great  Cardinal  Ximenes,  founder  of  the  University  of 
Alcala,  editor  of  the  Complutensian  Polyglot,  one  of 
the  most  famous  editions  of  the  Bible,  and  Regent  of 

Spain.  ^ 

A  plot  of  ground  on  Ninth  and  Walnut  streets  had 
been  secured  for  the  erection  of  a  Cathedral,  and  was 
actually  purchased  in  April,  1824,  for  forty  thousand 
dollars.     Bishop  Conwell  began  to  feel  encouraged  by 
the  energy  of  the  Catholics  who  had  adhered  to  the 
faith,  and  was  full  of  hopes  of  rearing  a  suitable  edi- 
fice     The  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide  wrote  in 
his  behalf  to  all  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States  rec- 
ommending to  them  to  make  collections  to  aid  then- 
brother  in  Philadelphia  to  erect  a  Cathedral  where  he 
would  be  free.     A  new  cemetery  was  also  acquired, 
and  all  seemed  to  indicate  that  the  Bishop  might  soon 
disregard  the  trustees  of  the  one  church,   who  had 
done  so  much  to  overthrow  Catholicity  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. 


1  Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Oct.  16,  1823,  Feb.  13. 


1824. 


250       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

St.  Josepli's  liad  one  liundred  and  fifteen  pews,  all 
well  rented,  one  of  them  to  Josej)!!  Bonaparte,  ex- 
King  of  Spain. 

When  Lafayette  visited  Philadelphia  in  October, 
1824,  the  clergy  of  the  city,  in  a  body,  went  to  meet 
him  and  pay  their  respects.  Bishop  Conwell,  with 
Bishop  White  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
headed  the  procession. 

At  St.  Mary's  the  condition  of  affairs  was  becoming 
critical.  Tiiough  without  a  priest,  and  obstinately 
excluding  the  Bishop  of  Phihidelphia  and  the  priests 
appointed  by  him,  the  trustees  opened  the  church 
every  Sunday,  their  congregation  consisting  of  a  few 
deists  and  worthless  characters  off  the  streets.^  Had 
they  really  held  a  legal  title  to  the  property  they 
would  undoubtedly  have  sold  it,  but  their  very  charter 
prevented  any  attempt,  and  meanwhile  Bishop  Con- 
well  was  taking  steps  to  acquire  title. 

The  trustees,  although  one  of  their  number  was 
struck  down  by  a  sudden  death,  after  finding  Inglesi 
not  suited  to  their  ]3urposes,  through  Hogan  invited 
from  England  a  priest  named  Rev.  Thadde.us  J. 
O'Meally.  He  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  October  14, 
1823,  and  though  Bishop  Conwell  declined  to  receive 
him  as  a  priest  of  the  diocese,  the  trustees  sent  to 
the  Bishop  a  note  in  which  they  x)resented  him  as 
pastor,  and  on  this,  in  spite  of  the  Bishop's  formal  pro- 
hibition, O'Meally  began  to  officiate  at  St.  Mary's  and 
23ersisted  in  his  sacrilegious  course  for  more  than  a 
year,  although  excommunicated  as  soon  as  he  began 
his  intrusive   ministry.'^    The   Rev.  Gabriel  Richard 

'  Bishop  Conwell  to  Bishop  Plessis,  Oct.  13,  1823,  Bishop  Couwell  to 
Archbishop  Marechal,  April  19,  Oct.  3,  5,  1824. 

^  O'Meally,  "  An  Address  Explanatory  and  Vindicatory,"  Philadelphia, 
1824. 


DEED  OF  ST.  MARY'S.  251 

endeavored  to  put  an  end  to  the  schism,  but  the  trus- 
tees would  not  abandon  the  absurd  claim  of  a  right  to 
appoint  the  clergy  of  the  Church/  Bishop  Con  well 
had  by  this  time  become  better  acquainted  with  his 
diocese  and  with  the  temper  of  legislatures,  courts,  and 
j)ublic  opinion  in  regard  to  Catholics.  He  felt  that 
instinctively  all  would  incline  to  adopt  the  course  that 
seemed  most  likely  to  cripple  the  action  of  the  Catholic 
Church.  He  was  at  last  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
and  he  resolved  to  secure,  if  possible,  to  himself  the 
legal  title  of  St.  Mary's  Church.  He  proceeded  to  St. 
Thomas's  Manor,  Maryland,  early  in  1825,  and  without 
difficulty  obtained  from  Rev.  Francis  Neale  a  deed  of 
the  property  which  had  descended  to  him  from  Father 
Harding.  This  deed  bore  date  Nov.  7,  1825,  and  was 
duly  recorded  in  Philadelphia  in  the  following  May.^ 
Under  the  law  of  the  Church  and  of  the  State,  BishojD 
Conwell  was  thus  entitled  to  the  possession  of  his 
Cathedral. 

There  was,  however,  some  progress  in  the  diocese ; 
the  Rev.  P.  Rafferty,  revived  the  faith  and  gathered 
anew  the  Catholics  in  Washington,  Greene,  and  Fay- 
ette counties,  and  at  several  stations  which  he  attended. 
In  the  summer  of  1825,  the  Catholics  of  Butler,  avIio 
had  i)reviously  attended  Sugar  Creek,  erected  a  neat 
church  on  an  eminence  southeast  of  the  town,  making 
it  a  conspicuous  object  in  the  landscape.  The  site  was 
a  gift  of  a  pious  Catholic  widow,  Mrs.  Collins,  The 
body  of  the  faithful  was  large  and  respectable,  consti- 
tuted to  a  great  extent  of  farmers  who  owned  their 

'  They  called  it  a  presentation,  but  they  and  Rev.  Mr.  O'Meally  held  that 
the  Bishop  had  no  right  to  refuse,  and  was  compelled  to  receive  into  his  dio- 
cese, and  approve,  any  priest  they  might  pick  up.  "  A  Series  of  Letters," 
Philadelphia,  Jan.,  1825. 

^Jesuit  Records.     A.  C.  Historical  Researches,  iii.,  p.  63. 


252       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

own  prosperous  lands.  The  Rev.  Patrick  Rafferty 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  church  on  a  hill  overlooking 
Brownsville  ;  he  also  began  and  completed  a  church 
in  the  town  of  Alexandria.  He  commenced  another 
church  in  Waynesborough.  In  most  of  these  cases 
the  Catholics  were  successful  in  completing  their 
houses  of  worship,  although  surrounded  by  a  deeply 
prejudiced  population.  But,  at  Washington,  the 
faithful  became  discouraged,  and  the  church  site  was 
finally  sold.^  The  next  spring  Bishop  Con  well  made  a 
visitation.  At  Conewago,  he  ordained  in  February 
the  Rev.  Michael  Curran,  a  priest  who  did  good  ser- 
vice in  the  laborious  missions  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
closed  his  priestly  career  in  New  York.  We  trace  the 
Bishop  next  at  Chambersburg,  where  he  found  Rev. 
John  Hughes,  a  young  clergyman  of  his  diocese,  al- 
ready in  deacon's  orders,  at  his  home  on  a  visit  from 
Einrnitsburg.  Accompanied  by  the  future  Arch- 
bishop of  New  York,  he  proceeded  to  Path  Valley, 
Sinking  Valley,  Newry,  and  Bedford. 

Dr.  Conwell  found  much  to  encourage  him  in  the 
growth  of  the  Catholic  congregations  in  numbers  and 
fervor  ;  and  in  turn  he  inspired  them  where  possible, 
by  his  presence  and  by  correspondence,  to  erect  suitable 
churches,  as  the  only  sure  means  of  binding  them 
together  and  preserving  the  faith.  Thus  encouraged, 
steps  were  taken  at  Harman's  Bottom  and  Freeport  to 
build  necessary  churches.^  Rev.  Mr.  O'Meally  finally 
went  to  Rome  to  plead  his  own  cause  and  that  of  the 
schismatics.  On  his  arrival  there  in  the  summer  of 
1825,  the   Sacred  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide 

1  Truth  Teller,  ii.,  p.  19  ;  pp.  43-3. 

*U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  ii.,  p.  305;  Truth  Teller,  ii.,  pp.  19,43; 
Lambing,  pp.  230,  423.  440  ;  Hassard,  "  Life  of  Archbishop  Hughes," 
New  York,  1866,  p  48. 


O'MEALLY'S  SUBMISSION.  253 

refused  to  liold  any  intercourse  with  him  in  regard  to 
the  affairs  in  Philadelphia,  and  required  him  to  sign 
a  declaration  expressing  his  regret  for  acting  as  pastor 
of  St.  Mary's  Church,  in  defiance  of  the  Bishop,  re- 
/louncing  the  faction  and  their  schismatical  proceed- 
ings, conforming  to  the  Brief  of  August  24,  1822,  and 
asking  pardon  of  Bishop  Conwell.  Such  a  declaration 
the  Rev.  Mr.  O'Meally  signed,  and  then  returned  to 
his  native  country,  where  he  led  an  exemplary  life.^ 

Thus,  for  the  second  time,  Rome  had  acted  in  the 
matter,  and  rejected  utterly  the  claim  of  the  trustees, 
a  body  unknown  to  canon  law,  to  any  right  of  patron- 
age, and  condemned  their  course  as  schismatical. 
They  and  Matthew  Carey  had  ceased  to  parade  frag- 
mentary passages  from  the  "  Corpus  Juris  Canonici," 
for  even  they  began  to  see  that  it  was  absurd  to  cite 
''obiter  dicta"  of  Popes  a  thousand  years  ago  as 
authority,  when  they  refused  to  obey  the  Pope  \tho 
actually  occupied  the  see  of  Peter  ;  but  they  would 
not  submit  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  or  recognize  any 
authority  at  Rome. 

Early  in  1826,  Bishop  Conwell  issued  a  mandate 
I)ublishing  the  Jubilee  and  annexing  a  curiously 
abridged  translation  of  the  Bull  of  Pope  Leo  XII. 
The  Jubilee  was  to  begin  on  the  9tli  of  July,  and  con- 
tinue to  the  end  of  the  year.  As  St.  Mary's  Church 
was  still  under  an  interdict,  the  prescribed  visits, 
under  authority  from  the  Pope,  were  dispensed  with 
in  the  city  of  Philadelphia.^ 

'  Tlie  Recantation  reached  Bishop  Conwell  while  on  a  visitation  at 
Carlisle,  and  he  printed  it  there.  Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop 
Marechal.  England's  Works,  v. ,  p.  201-2  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  v. , 
p.  320.  O'Meally  died  in  Dublin,  January  2,  1877,  aged  84,  Chaplain  to 
the  Presentation  Convent. 

'^  "  The  Brief  of  His  Holiness,  Pope  Leo  XII.,  to  which  is  prefixed  the 
Mandate  of  the  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,"  etc.     Philadelphia,  1826,  pp.  24. 


254       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Doriiig  the  year  the  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Church 
for  the  first  time  showed  any  inclination  to  abandon 
their  right  to  exchide  the  Bishop  from  the  cliurch  of 
which  he  was  the  legal  owner,  and  to  appoint  x^i'iests 
of  whose  qualifications  they  were  to  be  sole  judges. 
With  Catholics  throughout  the  United  States,  the 
clergy,  the  hierarchy,  the  Cardinals  of  the  Propa- 
ganda Congregation,  and  the  Sovereign  Pontifl'  himself 
declaring  them  to  be  in  error,  they  began  to  realize  tlie 
fact  that  they  must  yield.  Once  more  they  opened 
negotiations  with  the  Bishop,  They  actually  agreed 
to  recognize  him  as  Bishop  of  Philadelphia,  to  ac- 
knowledge him  as  senior  pastor  of  the  Church,  and 
recognize  his  right  to  appoint  priests  to  St.  Mary's 
Church  ;  but  they  proposed  that  in  case  they  objected 
to  the  Bishop's  selection  of  clergymen,  the  matter  was 
to  be  decided  by  a  committee  composed  of  the  Bishop, 
two  priests  chosen  by  him,  and  three  trustees  selected 
by  the  board.  To  this  Bishop  Conwell,  for  the  sake 
of  peace,  agreed  Oct.  9,  1826,  renouncing  his  claim 
for  salary  from  the  time  he  was  installed  in  the  dio- 
cese, and  leaving  his  future  salary  and  that  of  the 
clergy  to  the  good  pleasure  of  the  trustees.  But  the 
latter,  at  the  same  time,  entered  on  their  minutes  a 
protest  virtually  nullifying  the  agreement,  in  which 
they  declared  that  they  did  not  recognize  the  Bishop 
as  chief  pastor  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  or  renounce  their 
right  to  apjDoint  the  clergy.  This  protest  was  entered, 
as  Bishop  Conwell  declared,  without  his  knowledge 
or  consent,  and  certainly  was  not  passed  at  any  meet- 
ing at  which  he  presided.  It  was  simply  a  treacher- 
ous subterfuge.^ 

In  pursuance   of   the   agreement  which   had  been 


'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  vii.,  p.  30.     England's  Works,  v.,  p.  208. 


THE  AGREEMENT  CONDEMNED.  255 

signed  by  liim  and  tlie  trustees,  Bishop  Conwell,  on 
the  11th  of  October,  removed  the  local  and  personal 
interdicts  from  St.  Mary's  Church  and  formally 
opened  the  church  for  divine  worship,  appointing 
Rev.  William  Vincent  Harold,  and  Rev.  Thomas 
Heyden,  his  assistant  pastors.  '^  The  trustees  are  to 
manage  the  temporalities  according  to  the  Act  of 
Incorporation,  and  the  spiritual  concerns  shall  remain 
under  the  care  and  government  of  the  Bishop  to  whom 
the  deposit  of  the  faith,  and  the  general  discipline  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  are  entrusted  in  the  dio- 
cese of  Philadelphia." 

The  church  was  accordingly  opened  by  Bishop  Con- 
well  with  a  "Te  Deiim"  on  Sunday,  November  6, 
the  sermon  being  preached  by  the  Very  Rev.  William 
V.  Harold.^  One  of  the  episcopal  acts  performed  in 
the  interval  was  the  ordination  as  priest  of  Rev.  John 
Hughes,  who  became  the  Bishop's  secretary. 

In  April,  1827,  Bishop  Conwell  roused  new  opposi- 
tion by  withdrawing  the  faculties  of  Very  Rev.  AV.  V. 
Harold.  This  act  led  to  a  public  meeting  at  which 
Matthew  Carey  presided,  and  resolutions  were  adopted 
denouncing  the  arbitrary  power  and  caprice  of  the 
Bishop,  and  the  determination  on  their  part  to  obtain 
a  speedy  and  permanent  remedy  from  Rome.^ 

When  the  agreement  between  Bishop  Conwell  and 
the  trustees,  and  their  protest  nullifying  what  they 
had  apparently  recognized  in  the  agreement,  reached 
Rome,  the  Propaganda  to  which  the  trustees  trans- 
mitted it  made  it  the  subject  of  a  special  meeting  of 
the  Cardinals  who  composed  the  congregation,  held 


>  Bishop  Conwell's  Notice,  Oct.  11,  1836.    U.  S.  Cath.  Miscell.,  vi.,  p. 
14,  143. 
2  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscell.,  vi.,  p.  343. 


256       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

April  30,  1827.  This  body  gave  as  its  judgment, 
"  that  the  said  agreement  and  declaration,  which  were 
the  subjects  of  debate,  were  to  be  altogether  repro- 
bated. Moreover,  that  it  might  Avell  be  understood 
of  how  great  importance  is  the  subject  matter,  and 
how  much  the  interests  of  religion  require  the  reproba- 
tion of  that  agreement  and  declaration  to  be  known  to 
all,  especially  in  that  country,  the  Sacred  Congrega- 
tion has  to  communicate  to  you,  that  in  this  matter 
Peter  has  spoken  through  Leo.  For  our  most  holy 
Lord  Leo  XIL,  having  maturely  considered  the  affair, 
did  on  the  6th  of  May  confirm  the  aforesaid  answer  of 
the  Sacred  Congregation  ;  and  did  expressly  manifest 
his  desire  to  admonish  all  the  Catholics  dwelling  in 
those  regions  ;  that  he  also  decreed  that  the  speci- 
fied agreement  and  declaration  were  by  all  means  to 
be  reprobated."  ^ 

Thus  for  the  third  time  Rome  had  spoken,  and  had 
condemned  the  claim  of  Meade,  Ashley,  Randall,  and 
their  associate  trustees  as  utterly  rej)ugnant  to  Catho- 
lic discipline,  and  in  this  case  condemned  Bishop 
Conwell  for  having,  to  some  extent,  yielded  the  in- 
alienable rights  of  his  See.  This  decision  relieves  the 
Bishop  from  the  charges  of  obstinacy  brought  against 
him  ;  there  was  no  obstinacy  in  his  adhering  to  Catho- 
lic discipline  ;  the  only  obstinacy  was  in  those,  who, 
deeply  imbued  with  Protestant  ideas,  strangers  to 
the  sacraments  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  insisted 
on  maintaining  an  unheard-of  claim  against  the  de- 
cision of  every  authority  that  Catholics  had  always 
respected. 

'  Cardinal  Capellari,  Prefect  of  the  Congregation  de  Propaganda 
Fide,  May  19,  1827,  U.  S.  Cath.  Misc.,  vii.,  p.  30.  England's  Works, 
v.,  p.  209.  It  was  unfortunate  in  this  case  that  a  clear,  definite  declara- 
tion of  principles  had  not  at  the  outset  been  sent  from  Rome. 


AN  ADMINISTRATOR  APPOINTED.  257 

Bishop  Conwell  gave  notice  of  the  decision  of  the 
Holy  See  in  his  Cathedral  at  the  high  mass  on  Sun- 
day, July  22,  1827,  and  issued  a  notice  to  the  faith- 
ful. The  aged  Bishop  expressed  to  the  authorities  in 
Rome  his  desire  to  be  relieved  of  the  burden  of  the 
diocese.  On  the  5th  of  August  Archbishop  Marechal 
was  appointed  Apostolical  Administrator  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Philadelphia,  and  it  was  intimated  to  Bishop 
Conwell  that  his  retirement  to  Ireland  would  be  grati- 
fying.^ The  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  was,  however, 
too  feeble  and  ill  to  undertake  the  reorganization  of 
another  diocese  ;  he  declined  the  onerous  and  difficult 
task.  The  Rev.  William  Matthews,  rector  of  St. 
Patrick's  Church,  Washington  City,  D.  C,  was  then 
appointed  Vicar-General  Apostolic  of  Philadelphia. 
This  nomination  was  laid  before  the  faithful  of  his 
diocese  by  Bishop  Conwell  on  the  22d  of  May."  The 
Propaganda  had  already,  on  the  8th  of  March,  notified 
Bishop  Conwell  that  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  requested 
him  to  come  to  Rome  without  delay.  It  was  there 
believed  that  his  absence  would  tend  to  produce  a 
calmer  state  of  things,  and  that  his  report  on  the 
condition  of  his  diocese  would  enable  the  Pope  to  act 
more  prudently.^ 

Finding  that  his  administration  was  soon  to  termi- 
nate, Bishop  Conwell  gave  confirmation  to  seven 
hundred  in   St.   Joseph's  Church,    Philadelphia,    to 


•  Bishop  England's  Works,  v.,  pp.  210-11.  Cardinal  Capellari  to 
Archbishop  Marechal,  August  11,  1827. 

«  Leo  XII.,  "  Quum  Venerabilis  Frater,"  Feb.  26,  1828.  Bullarium  de 
Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  pp.  34-5  ;  Cardinal  Capellari  to  Bishop  Conwell, 
March  8,  1828.  "  A  Continuation  of  References,"  pp.  11-13;  U.  S. 
CathoHc  Miscellany,  viii.,  p.  383. 

3  Cardinal  Capellari  to  Archbishop  Whitfield,  July  18,  1829. 


258       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

several  Imndred  in  St.  Augustine's  Cliurcli,  and  dedi- 
cated St.  Patricia's  Cliurcli  at  Harrisburg.^ 

V.  Rev.  William  Matthews  soon  arrived  in  Phila- 
delphia to  arrange  for  tlie  discharge  of  the  new  duties 
which  he  most  reluctantly  assumed.^  On  the  25th  of 
June  the  Bishop  notified  the  trustees  that  PojDe  Leo 
XII.  had  made  Dr.  Matthews  Apostolical  Adminis- 
trator, and  that  he  had  accordingly  appointed  him 
eldest  pastor  and  superior  of  the  clergy  of  St.  Mary's 
Church  in  his  own  stead ;  he  had  previously,  on 
October  17,  1827,  appointed  Rev.  William  V.  Harold 


^^^^^O-;^  V^'^^^^'^€-^^__^ 


SIGNATURE   0¥  BISHOP   CONWELL,    OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

and  Rev.  John  Ryan  pastors  of  the  church.  Bishop 
Conwell  tiien,  by  a  formal  act  under  the  seal  of  the 
diocese,  surrendered  the  administration  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Philadelphia  to  Dr.  Matthews  in  the  presence 
of  V.  Rev.  M.  Hurley,  V.G.,  Rev.  John  Hughes,  and 
Rev.  T.  J.  Donoghue.^ 

The  administration  of  the  diocese  by  Bishop  Conwell 
was  thus  virtually  closed,  for  he  never  resumed  it. 
He  left  Philadelphia,  and  on  the  11th  of  July,  1828, 
he  embarked  at  New  York  for  Havre. 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  vii.,  pp.  135,  143,  150;  Truth  Teller,  iii., 
pp.  350,  357. 

*  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellauy,  vii.,  p.  374. 

3  Bishop  Conwell  to  A.  Randall,  Sec,  June  25,  1838;  U.  S.  Cath. 
Miscellany,  viii.,  p.  22. 


STATE  OF  DIOCESE.  259 

At  the  time  of  liis  departure  the  clergy  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Philadelphia  comprised  thirty-two  priests : 
twenty-five  natives  of  Ireland,  two  Americans,  two 
Germans,  a  Belgian,  a  Russian,  and  a  Pole. 

When  the  Pope  requested  Bishop  Conwell  to  visit 
Rome,  he  directed  the  secretary  of  the  Propaganda  to 
notify  Fathers  Harold  and  Ryan  that  it  was  his  wish 
that  they  should  also  leave  the  city  of  Philadelphia, 
and  proceed  to  Cincinnati,  the  Bishop  of  that  city 
being  a  member  of  their  order,  and  there  existing  a 
Dominican  Convent  in  Ohio.  In  the  letter  of  Cardi- 
nal Capellari  was  inclosed  one  of  the  Y.  Rev.  Father 
Velzi,  General  of  the  Dominican  Order,  to  the  same  pur- 
port. The  two  fathers,  instead  of  obeying,  apj^ealed 
to  the  United  States  government,  complaining  that 
their  rights  as  citizens  were  infringed.  A  long  corre- 
sjDondence  ensued,  but  the  orders  were  not  revoked, 
and  in  1829,  V.  Rev.  William  Matthews  was  directed  to 
notify  the  two  priests  that  if  they  remained  in  Phila- 
delphia fifteen  days  after  the  communication  of  the 
letter  to  them,  they  would  be  immediately  deprived 
of  all  faculties,  so  as  not  to  be  able  to  say  mass  or  j)er- 
form  any  ecclesiastical  function.  On  this  they  re- 
turned to  Ireland.^ 

On  the  18th  of  April,  1829,  Bishop  Conwell,  Avhose 
explanations  had  not  satisfied  the  Sovereign  Pontifl", 
left  Rome,  and  though  notified  not  to  return  to  his 


'  Bishop  England's  Works,  v.,  pp.  213-232;  U.  S.  Catli.  Miscellany, 
Aug.  14,  1830  ;  Rev.  M.  De  B.  Egan  to  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute,  Rome,  Jan.  1., 
1829  ;  Consul  Felix  Cicognani  to  Martin  Van  Buren,  Sec.  of  State,  May 
8,  1829  ;  Cardinal  Capellari  to  Archbishop  Whittield,  April  21,  1829. 
A  meeting  was  called  in  which  it  was  resolved  to  petition  the  Pope  to  re- 
store Father  Harold,  ]Matthew  Carey,  his  old  bitter  antagonist,  extolling 
him  as  a  divine  of  transcendent  talents  and  true  piety.  Truth  Teller, 
Sept.  26,  1829. 


260       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

diocese  under  pain  of  being  deprived  of  his  faculties 
as  bishop,  pursued  his  journey  to  Philadelphia,  after 
celebrating  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption  in  the  Irish 
College  at  Paris.  He  subsequently  repaired  his  fault, 
and  was  allowed  to  perform  certain  episcopal  functions 
to  confirm  and  ordain  with  the  consent  of  the  Admin- 
istrator.^ 

The  sin  of  the  schismatics  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  and 
the  terrible  account  they  must  have  been  called  upon 
to  render  before  the  judgment  seat  of  God,  will  appear 
by  the  condition  of  the  diocese  when  Bishop  Henry 
Conwell  thus  resigned  his  authority  to  the  Adminis- 
trator appointed  by  the  Holy  See.  It  was  the  diocese 
where  from  colonial  days  religion  had  been  compara- 
tively free,  where  Catholics  were  numerous  and  better 
endowed  with  the  goods  of  this  world  than  in  most 
other  dioceses.  Yet  by  the  unholy  war  waged  by  the 
trustees  of  a  single  church  against  two  successive 
bishops  it  was  in  1829  without  a  seminary,  a  college, 
a  convent  academy  for  the  education  of  young  ladies, 
with  but  a  single  asylum,  few  schools,  and  a  disheart- 
ened peoi^le.     The  loss  of  souls  had  been  great. 

■>  Cardinal  Capellari  to  Archbishop  Whitfield,  March  13,  1830  ;  Truth 
Teller,  v.,  p.  356. 


VERT  REV.   WILLIAM  MATTHEWS     V.    G.    APOSTOLIC. 


262 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

DIOCESE  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

VERY  REV.  WILLIAM  MATTHEWS,  VICAR-GENERAL  APOSTOLIC. 

The  Very  Rev.  William  Matthews  on  receiving  from 
Bislioj)  Conwell  the  control  of  the  diocese  in  June, 

1828,  did  not  remove  his  residence  to  Philadelphia, 
but  continued  to  live  in  Washington,  making  occa- 
sional visits  to  different  parts  of  the  diocese.  The 
object  of  his  appointment  was,  in  the  first  place,  to 
restore  peace.  By  a  prudent  policy  he  avoided  all 
contention,  and  did  much  to  restore  harmony  and 
discipline. 

During  the  year  Rev.  Bernard  Keenan,  who  had  been 
the  zealous  pastor  of  Lancaster,  attending  Elizabeth- 
town  and  York,  laid  the  corner-stone  of  another  church 
in  his  district,  the  future  St.  Peter's  at  Columbia,  and 
for  years  said  mass  there  monthly.^  Luzerne  received 
its  first  regular  visits  about  this  time,  being  attended 
by  the  Rev.  John  D.  Flynn.^    On  Sunday,  May  24, 

1829,  a  solemn  Te  Deum  was  generally  sung  in  the 
churches  of  the  diocese  to  thank  Almighty  God  for 
lifting  from  the  Catholics  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
the  penalties  with  which  their  fidelity  to  the  true  God 
had  been  so  long  and  so  cruelly  visited.  Rev.  John 
Hughes  preaching  in  St.  Augustine's  Church  his  first 
o-reat  sermon.^ 


'  Catholic  Standard,  Aug.  18, 
^  Pierce,  "  History  of  Luzerne  County,"  p.  313. 
'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscell.,  viii.,  pp.  382,  398. 

263 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

DIOCESE    OP    BARDSTOWN. 
BIGHT  BEV.  BENEDICT  JOSEPH  FLAGET,  D.D.,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1810. 

Catholicity  in  Maryland  was  coeval  with  the  set- 
tlement of  the  ancient  province,  and  the  faithful  clung 
to  the  land  they  had  made  their  own  during  long 
years  of  injustice,  oppression,  and  penal  laws.  They 
had  their  priests  and  their  unobtrusive  chapels,  at 
times  even  schools.  In  Pennsylvania  there  was  from 
the  first  colonization  a  small  body  of  Catholics  who 
grew  in  numbers  under  the  fostering  care  of  the  Mary- 
land clergy.  In  New  England,  New  York,  New  Jer- 
sey, Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas,  the  Catholic  body 
arose  after  the  peace  of  1788,  mainly  by  immigra- 
tion ;  and  these  incoming  Catholics  found  no  priest  or 
altar.  In  fact,  to  these  pioneers,  it  became  difficult  to 
meet  the  necessities  which  increased  with  each  year. 
This  was  the  case  with  the  dioceses  of  Boston,  New 
York,  and  Philadelj^hia.  Catholics  were  few,  poor, 
lost  amid  an  overwhelming  majority  belonging  to  the 
dominant  sects,  ever  at  war  with  each  other,  but  ever 
ready  to  unite  against  Catholicity. 

The  diocese  of  Bardstown,  the  fourth  of  those  cre- 
ated by  Pope  Pius  VII.,  in  1808,  differed  essentially 
from  these  bishoprics  on  the  coast.  The  State  of  Ken- 
tucky began  to  be  settled  about  the  commencement  of 
the  revolutionary  troubles.  Then  men  from  Virginia 
and  Maryland  made  their  way  to  the  lands  south  of 
the  Ohio,  and  began  to  clear  the  forest  and  build  up  a 
new  commonwealth.     Many  of   the  emigrants  were 

264 


EARLY  MISSIONS.  265 

Catholics  ;  some  of  tlie  first  to  fall  by  the  way,  or,  after 
reaching  Kentucky,  by  the  hands  of  the  Indian  foe, 
were  Catholics.  They  helped  to  found  and  build  up 
the  new  State  ;  sturdy  backwoodsmen,  strong,  brave, 
earnest,  they  were  the  peers  of  those  around  them. 
Life  was  plain  and  rude,  comforts  were  few,  luxuries 
unknown.  Priests  struck  into  the  wilderness  to  at- 
tend these  clustered  bodies  of  the  faithful,  who  in 
God's  providence  selected  generally  the  poorest,  but 
perhaps  the  healthiest  situations.  The  Carmelite 
Paul  of  St.  Peter,  the  Capuchin  Wlielan,  Rev.  Mr. 
Rohan,  effected  little.  It  was  not  till  Bishop  Carroll 
had  ordained  his  first  priest.  Rev.  Stephen  T.  Badin, 
and  sent  him  to  Kentucky,  that  any  real  commence- 
ment was  made  for  the  Church.  Then  came  the  day 
of  log  churches,  and  long  priestly  journeys  to  the 
Catholic  settlements.  Rev.  John  Thayer  came  and 
went.  Rev.  Messrs.  Salmon  and  Fournier  came  to 
labor  till  death.  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx  to  toil  like  a 
hero,  form  church  after  church,  create  a  sisterhood, 
draw  recruits  for  the  priesthood  from  his  own  Belgium, 
as  well  as  vestments,  plate,  paintings,  and  other  re- 
qnirements  for  the  churches,  which  he  divided  un- 
grudgingly. The  Dominicans,  guided  by  the  advice 
of  Bishop  Carroll,  established  a  convent  and  college. " 
Thus  Kentucky  had  a  life  of  its  own. 

Pope  Pius  VII.,  by  his  Bull  "  Ex  Debito,"  April  8, 
1808,  erected  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  into  a  diocese, 
with  an  episcopal  see  at  Bardstown,  and  gave  the 
Bishop  of  the  new  see  temporary  administration  of 
the  country  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  now  divided  into 
well-known  States  :  Illinois  with  a  small  Catholic  popu- 
lation as  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  Prairie  du  Rocher ; 
Indiana  with  its  Catholic  settlement  at  Vincennes ; 
Michigan  with  its   Catholic  population  at    Detroit, 


266       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Raisin  River,  Mackinac  ;  Wisconsin  with  feeble  gath- 
erings near  Green  Bay ;  Ohio,  with  a  few  Catholic 
immigrants,  and  the  Sandusky  Hurons  who  had  lost 
the  faith, — in  fact,  all  the  territory  from  the  banks  of 
the  Ohio,  westward  to  the  Mississippi,  and  northward 
to  the  great  lakes. ^  For  this  diocesan  charge,  involv- 
ing great  labor  on  the  very  frontier  of  the  country, 
Providence  selected  the  Rev,  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget, 
a  member  of  the  Society  of  St.  Sulpice,  who  had  been 
a  professor  at  Georgetown  College  and  in  St.  Mary's 
College,  Baltimore,  but  who  had  years  before  been 
stationed  for  a  time  at  Vincennes.  The  gentle,  pious, 
learned,  scholarly  man  bowed  to  the  will  of  the  Sove- 
reign Pontiff,  after  going  to  Europe  to  escape  the 
honor  and  the  burden.  He  was  consecrated  in  St. 
Patrick's  Church,  Fell's  Point,  on  the  4th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1810,  by  Archbishop  Carroll,  assisted  by  Bishop 
Cheverus  of  Boston,  and  Bishop  Egan  of  Philadel- 
phia, the  sermon  of  the  saintly  Cheverus  moving  all 
to  tears. 

Bishop  Flaget  united  with  his  Metropolitan  and 
fellow  suffragans  in  drawing  up  regulations  to  insure 
uniform  discipline,  in  a  pastoral  letter,  and  in  an 
address  to  the  hierarchy  of  Ireland,  worthy  of  the 
►  early  ages.  But  he  was  far  from  his  diocese,  and 
atterly  without  means  to  reach  it.  A  subscription 
among  his  friends  in  Baltimore  at  last  enabled  him  to 
start  from  that  city  on  the  lltli  of  May,  1811,  Rev. 
Mr.  Badin's  attempt  to  collect  means  in  Kentucky 
having  signally  failed.  He  was  accompanied  by  Rev. 
Messrs.  David  and  Savine  and  three  seminarians. 
Fortunate  in  meeting  the  Dominican  Father  Edward 

'  Bullarium  Romanum,  xiii.,  p.  282  ;  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide, 
iv.,  p.  339. 


BISHOP  FLAGET.  267 

Fen  wick  at  Pittsburgh,  the  Bishop  and  his  party 
descended  tlie  Ohio  in  a  iiatboat,  reacliing  Lonisville 
on  the  4th  of  June,  and  Bardstown,  a  settlement 
selected  for  his  see,  but  utterly  destitute  of  any 
sign  of  Catholicity,  even  a  log  church,  on  the  9th. 
His  installation  in  his  Cathedral  was  a  fiction  of 
law. 

The  Right  Rev.  Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,  who  was 
to  preside  over  the  Catholics  of  Kentucky  for  nearly 
forty  years,  honored  by  their  deepest  reverence  and 
attachment,  was  born  at  Contournat,  in  Auvergne, 
November  7,  1763,  the  year  which  saw  the  lilied  flag 
of  his  native  land  lowered  throughout  Canada  and 
Northwest  Territory  and  replaced  by  the  colors  of  her 
ancient  enemy.  His  father  passed  away  before  young 
Benedict  saw  the  light,  his  mother  survived  but  two 
years.  Cared  for  by  pious  kindred  the  boy  grew  up 
pious  and  dutiful,  succeeded  w^ell  in  his  studies  in  the 
College  at  Billom,  and  entered  the  Seminary  at  Cler- 
mont to  prepare  for  holy  orders,  having  won  a  bourse 
founded  by  Bishop  de  Bonald.  His  Sulpitian  instruc- 
tors in  1783  admitted  him  to  their  community,  and  he 
went  to  Issy,  the  novitiate  of  St.  Sulpice,  of  which 
Rev.  Gabriel  Richard  was  then  rector.  After  his  ordi- 
nation he  became  a  professor  of  theology,  and  was  in' 
quiet  seclusion,  training  seminarians  for  the  priest- 
hood, when  the  revolution,  like  a  mighty  cyclone, 
struck  the  religious  establishments  of  France.  Semi- 
naries, convents,  churches  were  closed,  the  scaffold 
reeked  with  the  blood  of  the  purest  and  holiest  men 
and  women  of  France.  Providentially  the  Sulpitians 
had  established  a  house  at  Baltimore,  and  in  January, 
1792,  Rev.  Mr.  Flaget  was  sent  to  America.  Sailing 
from  Bordeaux  with  two  other  priests.  Rev.  Messrs. 
Chicoisneau  and  David,  and  a  subdeacon  from  Orleans, 


268       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Stephen  Badin,  the  young  j)riest  Flaget  reached  Balti- 
more by  way  of  Philadelphia. 

The  new  auxiliaries  for  his  diocese  were  cordially 
welcomed  by  Bishop  Carroll,  who  soon  after  appointed 
Rev.  Mr.  Flaget  to  Vincennes,  where  the  services  of  a 
devoted  French  priest  were  needed  to  revive  religion  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  He  set  out  with  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  General  Wayne,  whom  he  found  at 
Pittsburgh  ;  and  there  he  began  mission  work,  saying 
mass,  and  j^reparing  for  death  soldiers  capitally  sen- 
tenced for  desertion.  Taking  a  llatboat,  bound  for 
Louisville,  he  was  overjoyed  to  find  in  one  of  the  three 
or  four  houses  that  then  constituted  the  town  his 
friends  Rev.  Messrs.  Levadoux  and  Richard,  sent  on 
a  mission  like  his  own  to  Kaskaskia  and  Prairie  du 
Rocher.  A  letter  of  General  Wayne  won  him  the 
friendship  of  General  George  Rogers  Clark,  who 
escorted  him  in  an  armed  bateau  to  Vincennes.  The 
good  priest  found  the  church  of  puncheons  in  a  ruin- 
ous state,  the  altar  a  few  rough  boards,  the  faith  of 
his  future  flock  but  too  truly  depicted  by  their  church, 
for  out  of  nearly  seven  hundred  souls  he  could  induce 
only  twelve  to  approach,  at  Christmas,  the  Holy 
Eucharist  of  which  they  had  so  long  been  deprived. 
By  gathering  the  children  and  teaching  them  he  soon 
effected  a  change.  He  stimulated  improvements  in 
the  cultivation  of  land  and  set  up  looms  for  weaving. 
He  was  never  idle,  allowing  himself  little  recreation, 
and  gathering  strength  in  prayer.  He  visited  the 
Miami  towns  and  endeavored  to  revive  the  faith 
preached  to  them  by  their  old  missionaries,  and  when 
small -pox  desolated  their  cabins  the  Rev.  Mr.  Flaget 
was  consoled  by  many  conversions.  He  was  stricken 
down  by  disease,  but  recovered  to  labor  on  till  April, 
1795,  when  his  Superiors  recalled  him  to  Baltimore, 
which  he  reached  by  way  of  New  Orleans. 


STATE  OF  DIOCESE.  269 

He  was  next  stationed  at  Georgetown  College  as  one 
of  the  professors,  wliile  Rev.  William  L.  Dii  Bourg 
was  president,  and  subsequently  went  with  him  to 
Havana,  where  the  Sulpitians  hoped  to  found  a  col- 
lege. Nearly  a  victim  to  the  yellow  fever  there,  he 
recovered  to  spend  a  few  years  as  tutor  in  an  excellent 
Spanish  family.  Then  he  returned  to  Baltimore  to 
discharge  the  duties  assigned  to  him  in  St.  Mary's 
Seminary.  When  Rev.  Mr.  Badin  visited  Baltimore, 
to  impress  on  Bishop  Carroll  the  necessity  of  having  a 
bishopric  in  Kentucky,  he  urged  Bardstown  as  the 
proper  see,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Flaget  as  one  specially  fitted 
to  lill  it.  He  was  accordingly  nominated  by  Bishop 
Carroll,  and  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  issued  the  Bulls 
erecting  the  see  of  Bardstown,  and  appointing  him  the 
first  Bishop.  He  went  to  Europe  to  avoid,  if  possible, 
the  position,  for  which  he  deemed  himself  unfitted,  but 
was  told  by  Rev.  Mr.  Emery,  Superior  of  St.  Sulpice, 
that  the  Pope  had  sent  a  peremptory  order  requiring 
him  to  accept.  His  visit  to  Europe  was  not  useless  ; 
he  obtained  ecclesiastics  to  labor  in  his  diocese,  Rev. 
Mr.  Chabrat,  a  subdeacon,  Messrs.  Deydier,  Derigaud, 
and  Romeuf. 

When  he  reached  Bardstown  his  diocese  and  the 
annexed  district,  now  divided  into  seven  States,  and 
eighteen  dioceses,  presided  over  by  three  archbishops 
and  fifteen  bishops,  was  poorly  provided  indeed. 
There  were  ten  churches,  including  St.  Stephen's  at 
Priestland,  the  residence  of  Rev.  Mr.  Badin,  not  prop- 
erly a  church  ;  these  were  all  but  one  built  of  logs, 
and  in  the  twenty-four  stations  visited  by  the  liand- 
f  ul  of  priests  there  were  six  more  humble  structures 
which  zealous  hands  were  rearing.  The  churches  in 
actual  use  were  Holy  Cross  on  Pottinger's  Creek,  built 
by  Rev.  Mr.  De  Rohan,  in  1792-3,   St.  Joseph's  near 


270       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Bardstown,  and  St.  Francis,  erected  about  1795,  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Badin  ;  St.  Ann's,  on  Pottinger's  Creek, 
which  dates  about  three  years  later,  and  St.  Patrick's, 
Danville,  both  due  to  the  same  energetic  priest ;  Holy 
Mary's  on  Rolling  Fork,  established  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Fourmier  in  1798  ;  St.  Charles's  on  Hardin's  Creek,  the 
work  of  the  holy  Belgian  priest.  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx, 
and  the  church  which  the  Dominicans  dedicated  to 
St.  Rose  in  1806.  The  Catholic  settlements  had  a 
population  of  about  six  thousand,  and  were  attended  by 
Rev.  Stephen  T.  Badin,  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,  the 
Capuchin  Father  M.  O'Flynn,  and  the  Dominican 
Fathers,  Fen  wick,  Wilson,  and  Tuite.  All  these  clergy- 
men were  at  St.  Stephen's  to  receive  the  Bishop,  who 
came  with  Rev.  John  B.  David,  the  director  of  his 
proposed  seminary.  Rev.  Mr.  Savine,  and  Rev.  Guy 
I.  Chabrat,  not  yet  in  priest's  orders.  The  Bishop 
found  a  number  of  the  faithful  gathered  there,  all 
kneeling  on  the  grass,  the  women  dressed  in  white, 
who,  expecting  him  early  enough  to  say  mass,  had  been 
fasting  all  day  before  the  little  altar  set  up  between 
four  saplings.  This  reception,  so  different  from  that 
at  Vincennes  some  years  before,  filled  his  soul  with 
consolation.  Assuming  his  episcopal  robes  he  was 
conducted  to  the  chapel  in  procession,  with  the  chant 
of  the  Litany  of  Loretto.  Then  the  prayers  and  hymn 
prescribed  in  the  Roman  Pontifical  were  recited.^  For 
the  country  beyond  the  Ohio,  the  report  laid  before  the 
Bishop  was  less  encouraging.  The  French  settlement 
at  Gallipolis,  so  prematurely  erected  into  a  Prefecture 
Apostolic  showed  yet  a  few  stragglers  remaining,  but 

'  Spalding,;"  Sketches  of  the  early  Catholic  Missions  of  Kentucky ,"  Louis- 
ville. "Sketches  of  the  Life,  Time,  and  Character  of  the  Right  Rev. 
Benedict  Joseph  Flaget,"  Louisville,  1852;  Webb,  "The  Centenary  of 
Catholicity  in  Kentucky,"  Louisville,  1884. 


'-.  ii% 


1   Ml      '/    }^^ 


R^    REV   BENEDICT   JOSERH    FLAGET, 

BISHOP   OF   BARDSTOWN  AND   LOUISVILLE^ 
Copyright  VJobm  C-  Shra  1890 


EPISCOPAL  PALACE.  271 

no  sign  of  religion.  The  good  Bishop  followed  by  the 
Dominican  Father  Fenwick,  soon  penetrated  into ' 
Ohio,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  a  mission  at  the 
house  of  the  Dittoe  family.  Vincennes  was  without 
a  resident  priest,  the  people  being  too  indifferent  to 
give  enough  support  to  a  pastor,  and  they  depended 
on  occasional  visits  from  Rev.  Stephen  T.  Badin  from 
Kentucky,  and  Rev.  Donatien  Olivier,  the  priest  sta- 
tioned at  Kaskaskia.  Rev.  Gabriel  Richard  was  at 
Detroit,  the  congregation  meeting  on  the  Spring  Hill 
Farm,  old  St.  Anne's  Church  having  perished  in  the 
general  conflagration  of  1805,  which  laid  the  City  of 
the  Strait  in  ashes.  ^  The  Catholics  at  Cahokia,  de- 
scendants of  the  old  flock  of  the  Quebec  Seminary 
Priests,  asked  for  a  missionary,  and  one  of  the  first 
acts  of  Bishop  Flaget  was  to  send  to  them  the  Rev. 
Mr,  Savine.  The  Kaskaskias,  remnant  of  the  several 
Illinois  bands,  claimed  his  care  and  were  still  recog- 
nized as  Catholics  by  government.^ 

Till  he  could  put  up  a  home  and  a  church  for  his 
Cathedral  Bishop  Flaget  made  his  temporary  residence 
at  St.  Stephen's.  The  Rev.  Mr,  Badin,  though  crip- 
pled in  means  by  a  fire  which  swept  away  a  building 
erected  for  a  religious  community,  put  up  two  log 
cabins    sixteen    feet    square.      The    furniture  corre- 

'  Registers  of  Vincennes,  Detroit,  Kaskaskia  ;  "  Expose  des  faits  et  des 
documents."  Fanner,  "  The  history  of  Detroit  and  Michigan,"  Detroit, 
1884,  p.  531. 

^  "  And  whereas  the  greater  part  of  the  said  tribe  have  been  baptized 
and  received  into  the  Catholic  Church,  to  which  they  are  much  attached, 
the  United  States  will  give,  annually,  for  seven  years,  one  hundred  dol- 
lars toward  the  support  of  a  priest  of  that  religion,  who  will  engage  to 
perform  for  the  said  tribe  the  duties  of  his  office  and  also  to  instruct  as 
many  of  their  children  as  possible  in  the  rudiments  of  literature.  And 
the  United  States  will  further  give  the  sum  of  $300  to  assist  the  said  tribe 
in  the  erection  of  a  church." — Treaty  with  Kaskaskias,  Aug.  13,  1803. 


272       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

sponded  to  tlie  whitewaslied  palace.  It  consisted  of 
two  tables,  six  cliairs,  some  boards  to  hold  books. 
The  space  was  so  limited  that  one  of  the  priests  sle^Dt 
on  a  mattress  on  the  garret  floor.  Such  was  the  resi- 
dence of  Bishop  Flaget  for  more  than  a  year."  A 
pious  Catholic,  Mr.  Thomas  Howard,  left  a  fine  farm 
near  Bardstown  to  the  Bishop,  and  in  November,  1811, 
Rev.  Mr.  David  and  his  seminarians  removed  to  this 
place,  which  took  the  name  of  St.  Thomas,  and  cour- 
ageously set  to  work  to  erect  the  necessary  buildings 
and  a  brick  church. 

On  Christmas  day  he  officiated  at  St.  Rose's  Church 
and  conferred  the  priesthood  on  Rev.  Guy  I.  Chabrat, 
who  was  thus  the  first  priest  ordained  west  of  the 
Alleghanies. 

On  the  20th  of  February,  1812,  aware  of  the  neces- 
sity of  establishing  uniform  discipline,  laying  off  mis- 
sionary districts,  and  concerting  harmonious  action 
among  his  little  body  of  priests,  Bishop  Flaget  con- 
vened them  at  St.  Stephen's  in  a  diocesan  conference. 
The  results  were  beneficial,  and  Bishop  Flaget,  who 
had  prepared  for  the  meeting  by  a  spiritual  retreat, 
felt  some  relief  in  the  perplexities  and  cares  which 
now  encompassed  him. 

Rev.  Mr.  Nerinckx,  convinced  of  the  necessity  of  a 
religious  training  for  the  young,  had  been  forming 
some  pious  young  women  to  found  a  Sisterhood.  Rev. 
John  B.  David,  filled  with  the  same  spirit,  besides  the 
care  of  his  Seminary,  which  began  with  three  students, 
was  preparing  to  establish  a  House  of  Sisters  of  Char- 
ity. Thus  Catholicity  in  Kentucky,  nursed  in  poverty 
and  privation,  inspired  the  foundation  of  two  com- 

3  Maes,  "The  Life  of  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,"  Cincinnati,  1880,  p. 
238. 


SISTERS  OF  LORETTO.  273 

munities  of  religious  women,  which  continue  to  the 
present  day,  leading  many  in  the  paths  of  perfection 
and  benefiting  their  fellow-men  by  numberless  acts  of 
mercy. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  Sisters  of  Loretto  was  Mary 
Rhodes,  a  native  of  Maryland,  who,  after  educating 
her  nieces  for  a  time,  offered  her  services  to  Rev. 
Charles  Nerinckx  to  instruct  the  little  girls  of  the 
neighborhood  in  their  religion  and  the  rudiments  of 
education.  Her  school,  opened  in  a  little  hut  near 
Hardin's  Creek,  prospered  so  that  a  pious  young  lady, 
Christina  Stuart,  joined  her.  After  a  time,  wishing  to 
live  undisturbed  by  the  company  at  the  house  where 
they  resided,  they  made  the  little  school-house  their 
home.  Having  been  joined  by  Miss  Nancy  Havern, 
they  applied  to  their  venerated  pastor  for  some  rules 
which  they  might  follow.  Rev.  Mr.  Nerinckx  be- 
lieved that  the  good  work  was  inspired  by  God,  but 
would  not  take  any  step  without  the  full  sanction  of 
Bishop  Flaget.  Obtaining  his  approval  he  gave  the 
little  band  of  teachers  a  few  rules  intimating  that  when 
their  number  reached  five,  he  would  draw  up  more  ex- 
tended regulations,  and  allow  them  to  elect  a  superior. 
The  choice  fell  on  Miss  Nancy  Rhodes,  the  youngest 
member,  who  became  the  head  of  the  house.  With 
their  little  means  they  purchased  the  place,  put  up  a 
neat  home  and  poultry  house,  and  persevered  in  their 
good  work.  Rev,  Mr.  Nerinckx,  seeing  that  the  insti- 
tution promised  to  be  a  permanent  one,  proposed  to 
send  for  some  Sisters  from  Europe  to  train  them  ;  but 
they  all  opposed  this  plan.  They  wished  to  live  under 
a  rule  prepared  by  him.  Yielding  to  their  wish,  he 
drew  up  a  rule  for  The  Friends  of  Mary  at  the  foot  of 
the  Cross,  which  Bishop  Flaget  approved.  After  due 
preparation  the  veil  was  given  to  Mary  Rhodes,  Chris- 


274       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

tina  Stuart,  and  Nancy  Havern  in  St.  Charles's  Church 
on  the  25th  of  April,  1812.  The  unwonted  ceremony- 
drew  a  great  crowd  to  the  little  church,  and  the  Cath- 
olics were  deeply  edihed  and  moved  as  they  saw  the 
three  foundresses,  preceded  by  their  school  children, 
move  from  the  school-house  to  the  church.  At  the 
foot  of  the  altar,  in  the  presence  of  the  whole  congre- 
gation, they  made  their  solemn  promise  to  renounce 
the  world.  The  coarse  black  veil  was  next  blessed 
and  placed  on  the  head  of  each  ;  then  at  the  end  of 
the  mass  they  returned  in  procession  to  their  cabin  to 
begin  their  life  as  Sisters  of  Loretto,  if  we  may  use 
the  title  by  which  they  are  generally  known. ^ 

The  Dominican  Fathers  had  acquired  a  farm  of  six 
hundred  acres  of  a  Mr.  William  Waller,  Father  Ed- 
ward Fen  wick's  patrimony  being  used  in  the  purchase, 
and  slaves  he  had  inherited  being  sent  from  Maryland 
to  work  it.  The  religious  did  not  obtain  possession 
till  the  spring  of  1806,  boarding  in  the  mean  time  at 
different  places  and  giving  their  services  as  mission- 
aries. The  two-story  brick  building  on  the  farm  be- 
came the  convent  of  Saint  Rose  of  Lima,  and  the  Order 
of  Preachers,  which  sent  its  pioneer  priests  to  the 
James  River  in  1526,  and  to  Florida  in  1549,  had  thus 
a  permanent  home  in  the  country.  Here  a  college  was 
opened  with  nine  students,  Fathers  Wilson  and  Tuite 
acting  as  professors.^ 

On  the  10th  of  October,  1808,  a  novitiate  was  for- 
mally opened  at  St.  Rose's,  and  the  white  habit  of  St. 
Dominic  was  given  solemnly  to  ISTicholas  (Dominic) 

'  Maes,  "Life  of  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,"  p.  239,'  etc. 

*  Sketch  by  Very  Rev.  Stephen  Byrne,  O.  P.  Both  bore  marks  of  the 
rough  roads  of  those  days.  On  their  way  to  Kentucky  a  stage  upset, 
and  Father  Wilson  had  his  arm  broken  and  Father  Tuite  I'eceived  a 
gash  on  tlie  face  whicli  marked  him  for  life. 


DIOCESAN  SEMINARY.  275 

Young,  Richard  (Pius)  Miles,  Samuel  (Louis)  and 
Stephen  (Hyacinth)  Montgomery,  William  (Thomas) 
Willett,  and  Christopher  (Antoninus)  Rudd.  Four  of 
these  made  their  vows  in  1809  ;  Nicholas  D,  Young, 
being  too  young,  was  deferred  to  August  4,  1810. 

St.  Rose's  Church  was  commenced  in  1808  ;  it  was 
for  its  time  the  finest  church  yet  erected  in  Kentucky, 
being  of  brick,  forty  feet  by  one  hundred.  It  was 
dedicated  on  St.  Rose's  Day,  September  30,  1809. 
Then  a  new  building  was  erected  the  next  year  for  a 
convent,  and  in  1812  a  suitable  structure  for  a  college. 
This  institution  was  in  a  flourishing  condition  when 
Bishop  Flaget  reached  his  diocese. 

Bishop  Flaget  soon  had  the  consolation  of  seeing  St. 
Peter's  Church  dedicated  at  Lexington,  and  in  a  few 
months  transferred  his  residence  to  St.  Thomas's,  on 
the  10th  of  August.  Rev.  Mr.  David  was  already  there 
with  his  seminarians,  laboring  to  train  them  to  a  true 
ecclesiastical  spirit,  while  they  devoted  the  hours  not 
required  by  divinity  studies  to  felling  trees,  making 
brick,  and  preparing  to  erect  a  suitable  seminary  and 
church. 

At  the  close  of  summer  he  set  out  for  Baltimore 
to  attend  a  proposed  Provincial  Council,  the  letter  of 
Archbishop  Carroll,  deferring  its  convocation,  not  hav- 
ing reached  him.  The  impossibility  of  communicating 
with  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  and  obtaining  a  regular 
authorization  for  holding  the  first  Council  induced  the 
Metropolitan  to  lay  aside  the  project.  Unaw^are  of 
this  resolve  Bishop  Flaget,  after  a  visit  to  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Nerinckx  and  his  fervent  little  communitj^  of  Sisters, 
set  out,  visiting  Lexington  on  his  way  and  entering 
Ohio,  where  he  said  mass  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Dittoe 
on  the  11th  of  October,  probably  the  first  episcopal 
act  in  the  State.     It  was  not,  in  those  days  of  slow  and 


276       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

tedious  travel,  till  the  third  day  of  the  following  month 
that  Dr.  Flaget  was  welcomed  by  his  fellow  Sulpitians 
at  his  old  home,  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore. 

While  the  Bishop  was  detained  in  the  East  till 
spring  his  diocese  was  not  neglected.  The  unwearied 
laborer  in  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord,  Rev.  Charles 
Nerinckx,  built  St.  Anthony's  Church  at  Long  Creek, 
and  made  a  commencement  of  another  church,  St. 
Bernard's,  on  Casey  Creek.  He  sent  out  too  an  appeal, 
quaint  in  its  simplicity,  in  behalf  of  the  little  Sister- 
hood which  he  had  founded.^ 

Rev.  Mr.  David  had  frequently  consulted  Bishop 
Flaget  as  to  the  establishment  of  a  Sisterhood,  under 
the  control  of  the  diocesan  authority,  bound  by  simple 
vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obedience,  with  mem- 
bers devoted  to  works  of  mercy  and  the  instruction  of 
the  young  and  the  ignorant.  He  had  already  devout 
souls  who  were  impelled  by  the  spirit  of  God  to  sacri- 
fice their  labors  for  the  sake  of  Christ  and  their  neigh- 
bor. In  JS'ovember,  1812,  two  ladies,  Teresa  Carico  and 
Elizabeth  Wells,  took  up  their  residence  in  a  log-house 
adjoining  the  Church  of  St.  Thomas.  In  January 
another  candidate  joined  them,  and  on  the  21st  Rev. 
Mr.  David  presented  to  them  the  provisional  rules, 
embodying  the  objects  and  duties  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  of  Nazareth.  By  the  month  of  June,  1813, 
their  number  having  increased  to  six,  they  made  a 
spiritual  retreat,  after  which  they  chose  Sister  Catha- 
rine Spalding  as  their  first  Mother  Superior.  Bishop 
Flaget  had  by  this  time  returned  to  his  diocese  and  he 
made  the  little  community  a  touching  exhortation  on 
the  duties  and  obligations  of  the  religious  life  which 
they  had  embraced.     After  living  for  two  years  under 

'  Maes,"  Life  of  Rev.  C.  Nerinckx."    Tessier,  "  fepoques  du,  Seminaire." 


VISITATION.  277 

provisional  regulations  tliey  adopted  the  rule  of  Saint 
Vincent  de  Paul  for  the  Sisters  of  Charity,  adapting 
the  dress  to  their  circiinistances.^ 

Bishop  Flaget  began  a  visitation  of  his  diocese  in 
1813,  and  at  every  station  insisted  on  a  regular  and 
definite  support  for  the  priest.  The  precarious  sus- 
tenance had  forced  not  a  few  priests,  especially  north 
of  the  Ohio,  to  seek  other  fields  of  labor.  Mild  and 
amiable  as  he  was,  confiding  rather  in  prayer  than  in 
human  aid,  the  good  Bishop  was  inflexible  on  this 
point.  At  St.  Charles's  and  St.  Rose's  some  showed  a 
disposition  to  resist.  Bishop  Flaget  put  down  the 
incipient  rebellion  by  declaring  to  them  from  the  altar 
that  if  they  persisted  in  their  refusal  he  would  no 
longer  consider  them  as  belonging  to  the  Catholic 
Church.^ 

Ere  long  Father  Edward  Fenwick,  whom  he  had 
sent  to  Ohio,  began  his  missionary  career  in  that  State, 
while  the  Bishop,  to  whom  the  Catholics  of  Vincennes 
had  appealed  for  a  resident  clergyman,  proceeded  to 
that  place  on  horseback  and  unattended.  As  he 
approached  the  old  French  town  a  large  cavalcade, 
headed  by  Rev.  Donatien  Olivier,  came  out  to  meet 
him,  and  conducted  him  to  the  church  with  some 
pomp.  He  remained  two  weeks  at  this  former  scene 
of  his  labors,  visiting  the  cemetery  and  chanting  the 
"Libera"  over  the  grave  of  the  devoted  Mr.  Rivet. 
He  blessed  and  exhorted  a  company  of  rangers  setting 
out  for  the  seat  of  war,  to  check  the  English  on  the 
frontier.  The  condition  of  the  people  rent  his  heart; 
ignorance  and  vice  had  nearly  effaced  all   sense  of 


'Spalding,  "Sketches  of  the  Early  Catholic  Missions  of  Kentucky," 
pp.  229-233. 

2  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  pp.  113-14. 


278       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

religion  in  some  minds,  but  he  was  assiduous  in  in- 
structions and  in  the  confessional,  and  by  the  help  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Olivier  found  eighty- six  sufficiently  prepared 
for  him  to  administer  the  sacrament  of  confirmation 
on  the  5th  of  June,  when  he  preached  in  both  French 
and  English,  inveighing  strongly  against  the  abuses 
which  had  grown  up. 

Travel  in  the  West  had  been  environed  with  dangers, 
as  the  Indians,  won  by  British  pay,  were  all  hostile  to 
the  Americans,  till  the  check  received  on  the  Maumee 
and  Sandusky,  followed  by  Perry's  victory  on  Lake 
Erie  and  Harrison's  on  the  Thames,  broke  the  influ- 
ence of  the  English  in  the  West, 

From  Vincennes  Bishop  Flaget  proceeded  to  Caho- 
kia,  where  he  found  that  the  Rev.  Mr.  Savine,  whom 
he  had  sent  to  that  ancient  parish,  had  accomplished 
much  good.  Everything  was  in  fine  order ;  the  con- 
gregation was  free  from  debt  and  had  a  surplus  in  the 
treasury.  What  was  still  more  consoling  was  the 
spirit  which  animated  the  people,  and  the  knowledge 
of  their  religion  and  duties  which  they  displayed. 
Here,  too,  the  Bishop  became  a  missionary,  assiduous 
in  the  confessional,  and  on  the  26tli  of  June,  1814,  he 
confirmed  one  hundred  and  eighteen  persons. 

As  he  had  been  requested  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  he 
then  crossed  the  Mississippi,  but  found  little  to  con- 
sole him  in  St.  Louis,  Florissant,  St.  Charles,  and 
Portage  aux  Sioux,  for  the  apathy  and  religious  neg- 
lect of  the  people  grieved  him  sadly.  By  the  close  of 
August  he  was  again  within  the  limits  of  his  own 
jurisdiction,  with  more  to  console  him  in  Rev.  Mr. 
Olivier' s  parish  of  Prairie  du  Rocher,  where  he  con- 


'  Alerding,  "  A  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  iii  the  Diocese  of 
Vincennes,"  Indianapolis,  1883,  pp.  83-4. 


VISITATION.  279 

:firmed  sixty-five.  Stricken  down  by  fever  the  Bishop 
was  unable  to  reach  Kaskaskia  before  the  14th  of 
September.  That  old  post  had  a  fine  church,  eighty 
feet  by  forty,  with  a  handsome  steeple,  and  a  bell 
dating  back  to  days  of  French  rule.  He  confirmed 
one  hundred  and  ten  here,  and  in  a  subsequent  visit 
thirty-six  more.  Kaskaskia  had  recently  had  notable 
events.  A  cyclone  swept  through  it  in  1812  doing 
great  damage  to  houses  and  cattle  ;  the  next  year  the 
militia  were  called  out  to  confront  the  Kickapoos  and 
other  hostile  Indians.  Even  when  Bishop  Flaget  left 
Kaskaskia  for  Vincennes,  November  8,  1814,  traveling 
was  so  insecure  that  the  news  of  his  capture  by  Indians 
reached  Kentucky,  and  public  x>rayers  were  offered 
for  his  safety.  He  really  met  with  an  adventure  near 
Vincennes,  a  party  of  rangers  being  mistaken  for 
Indians  and  causing  a  general  alarm.  After  adminis- 
tering confirmation  at  Vincennes  he  returned  to  his 
home  at  St.  Thomas,  having  in  this  visitation  con- 
firmed one  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy-five.^ 

Writing  to  Archbishop  Carroll  from  the  American 
Settlement  in  Missouri,  he  said:  "  My  visit  through 
the  French  settlements  has  been  very  laborious,  but  a 
hundred  times  more  successful  than  I  would  have 
expected;  I  have  confirmed  above  twelve  hundred 
people,  though  I  confirm  none  but  those  who  have 
made  their  first  communion.  At  least  eight  or  ten 
priests  are  wanting  in  these  immense  countries,  and  if 
some  could  be  put  among  the  Indians  who  would  be 
willing  to  receive  them,  ten  more  would  scarcely  do. 
Pray  that  God  may  send  me  proper  ministers  to  con- 
vert or  support  so  many  souls  that  run  to  x)erdition  for 
want  of  assistance."  ^ 

^  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  pp.  115-143. 
«  Bishop  Flaget  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Oct.  10,  1814. 


280       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

In  this  visitation  Detroit  was  the  only  considerable- 
place  not  reached  by  the  Bishoj).  The  Church  there 
had  not  been  free  from  difficulties.  After  the  confla- 
gration of  1805,  it  was  resolved  to  rebuild  the  city, 
laying  out  the  streets  on  a  more  advantageous  plan. 
Congress,  on  the  21st  of  April,  1806,  passed  an  "  Act 
to  provide  for  the  adjustment  of  titles  of  land  in  the 
town  of  Detroit."  By  this  arrangement  the  site  of 
the  former  Church  of  St.  Anne  and  of  the  cemetery 
would  have  to  be  abandoned,  a  new  street,  Jefferson 
Avenue,  running  through  the  land.  A  plot  two  hun- 
dred feet  square  on  East  and  West,  now  called  Michi- 
gan Avenue,  was  assigned  to  the  Catholics.  Meetings 
of  the  parishioners  were  called,  but  they  acted  inde- 
pendently of 'their  pastor,  and  settled  upon  no  plan. 
First,  in  December,  1805,  it  was  resolved  to  erect  a 
wooden  church  forty  feet  by  one  hundred ;  but  in 
October,  1806,  there  was  a  desire  to  build  one  of  brick 
or  stone. 

On  the  3d  of  April,  1807,  they  obtained  of  the  terri- 
torial legislature  an  act  incorporating  "The  members 
of  the  Church,  usually  denominated  Catholic  Apos- 
tolic and  Roman,  within  the  territory  of  Michigan." 
A  majority  were  to  adopt  rules  and  elect  trustees,  but. 
no  rights  of  the  clergy  connected  with  the  churches 
were  recognized.  At  a  meeting  held  on  the  12th  of 
April,  they  adopted  the  title  of  "  The  Catholic  Apos- 
tolic and  Roman  Church  of  St.  Anne  at  Detroit."  It- 
was  further  declared  that  "  the  temporal  goods  of  the- 
said  Catholic  Church  of  St.  Anne  have  been  and  shall 
in  future  be  administered,  according  to  a  custom 
established  from  time  immemorial,  by  the  parish 
priest  and  four  trustees  or  marguilliers."  It  was  fur- 
ther established  that  "  the  Bishop  alone  or  the  parish 
priest  shall  draw  up  the  necessary  regulations  for  the- 


CHURCH  IN  MICHIGAN.  281 

internal  police  of  the  church  and  schools.  The  latter 
shall  have  the  appointment  of  the  schoolmasters  and 
mistresses." 

But  the  removal  of  the  bodies  from  the  old  cemetery 
was  strongly  opposed,  and  no  real  progress  had  been 
made  toward  erecting  a  new  church  when  the  war 
with  England  broke  out.  Soon  after  the  surrender  of 
Detroit  to  the  English  by  Hull,  Rev.  Gabriel  Richard, 
whose  loyalty  to  the  American  cause,  made  him  very 
obnoxious,  was  arrested  and  placed  in  confinement  at 
Sandwich,  and  his  people  were  consequently  long  de- 
prived of  his  ministry,^ 

The  Bishop  heard  of  four  other  Catholic  congrega- 
tions, which  he  was  unable  to  visit  on  account  of  the 
disturbed  condition  of  the  country.  Chicago  was  one 
of  these,  another  on  the  Upper  Mississipi^i,  one  on 
the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  the  fourth  at  the 
head-waters  of  the  Illinois  River. 

Bishop  Flaget  had  thus  visited  much  of  his  diocese 
and  of  the  annexed  district  placed  under  his  care. 
The  State  of  Tennessee  he  had  not  yet  been  able  to 
embrace  in  his  apostolical  journeys,  but  it  contained  at 
most  twenty-five  Catholic  families,  scattered  over  its 
territory  from  the  border  of  North  Carolina  to  the 
Mississippi  River,  who  had  received  one  or  two  visits 
from  priests  in  Kentucky.^ 

On  the  11th  of  April,  1815,  Bishop  Flaget  addressed 
a  touching  letter  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  congratu- 
lating him  on  his  liberation  from  captivity,  thanking 
His  Holiness  for  elevating  him  to  the  episcopate,  and 
rendering  an  account  of  the  diocese  and  district  com- 
mitted to  his  care.     He  was  able  to  report  that  he  had 

'  " Expose  des  faits  incontestables  et  des  documents."    Farmer,  "The 
History  of  Detroit  and  Michigan,"  p.  533. 
2  Bishop  Flaget  to  the  Pope,  April  11,  1815. 


282       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

in  Kentucky  ten  priests,  six  ecclesiastics  in  subdeacons, 
and  four  in  minor  orders,  and  six  who  had  received 
the  tonsure,  a  proof  of  the  zeal  and  spirit  of  the  priests 
who  had  cultivated  vocations  in  that  backwoods  State. 
Of  the  subdeacons,  five  belonged  to  the  Dominican 
Order.  He  could  number  nineteen  churches  in  Ken- 
tucky, five  of  them  brick,  the  rest  of  logs  ;  all  decent, 
but  destitute  of  all  ornaments  or  incentives  to  piety, 
such  as  art,  consecrated  to  religion,  had  placed  on  the 
walls  of  European  shrines.  Seven  of  these  churches 
were  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Mr.  Nerinckx.  Owing  to 
the  fluctuating  character  of  the  i^opulation  it  was  not 
easy  to  fix  the  number  of  Catholics  in  Kentucky,  but 
he  estimated  it  at  ten  thousand.  As  for  himself  he 
beheld  much  to  be  done,  but  he  was  utterly  without 
means.  Before  his  consecration  he  had  been  assured 
that  the  revenue  of  three  farms  would  abundantly 
supply  an  income  to  meet  the  maintenance  of  the 
Bishop  of  Bardstown,  but  on  arriving  found  that  the 
title  of  this  property  was  held  by  others  and  would 
not  be  conveyed  to  him,  although  he  had  used  all 
arguments  that  charity  could  prompt.  He  was  thus 
without  resources  either  for  his  own  support  or  for  the 
-erection  of  churches  and  institutions,  the  necessity 
ior  which  was  only  too  apparent. 

The  departure  of  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,  by  whom 
lie  forwarded  the  letter,  was  a  great  affliction,  as  he 
could  not  feel  certain  of  his  return  to  the  field  in  which 
he  had  accomplished  so  much.  The  Sisterhood  which 
the  Belgian  priest  had  founded,  now  numbering  eleven 
members,  shared  his  grief.  That  formed  by  Rev.  Mr. 
•  David,  whom  he  implored  the  Holy  Father  not  to  re- 
move from  his  seminary  to  the  see  of  Philadelphia, 
was  accomplishing  much  by  its  school,  its  care  of 
orphans,  its  visits  to  the  sick  and  poor. 


NERINCKX  IN  EUROPE.  283 

He  estimated  the  Catholics  of  Ohio  at  fifty  families, 
without  priest  or  instruction,  and  menaced  with  a 
gradual  loss  of  faith.  Vincennes  had  IBO  families  and, 
had  there  been  good  will,  might  easily  support  one  or 
two  priestsj  but  it  depended  on  occasional  visits  from 
Kentucky.  In  Illinois  he  estimated  the  population  of 
the  three  Catholic  parishes,  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  and 
Prairie  du  Rocher,  at  120  families.  Detroit  had  1500 
souls  in  St.  Anne's  parish,  and  500  on  Raisin  River 
under  Rev.  Gabriel  Richard,  who  was  maintained  by 
the  tithes  still  paid  as  in  the  old  Canadian  times. 

There  were  Indian  tribes  among  whom  some  traces 
of  the  faith  formerly  preached  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
still  lingered,  and  stretching  away  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  beyond  the  Mississippi,  were  tribes  who 
asked  for  black  gowns  and  afforded  a  field  worthy  of 
the  zeal  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  restored  by  His  Holi- 
ness.^ 

The  Rev.  Mr.  IS'erinckx  had  for  more  than  three 
years  been  anxious  to  visit  Europe,  one  of  his  objects 
being  to  obtain  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  Pius  VII.,  a 
recognition  of  the  Sisterhood  which  he  had  estab- 
lished ;  Bishop  Flaget  at  last,  in  September,  1815, 
gave  a  reluctant  consent,  and  kept  his  missionary 
field  open  for  him,  taking  on  himself  most  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Nerinckx's  congregations  and  the  chaplaincy  of 
the  Sisters.'^  His  visit  to  Rome  gave  him  great  conso- 
lation. The  Sacred  Congregation  "  de  Proj^aganda 
Fide,"  in  April,  1816,  took  under  its  special  protec- 
tion "The  Little  Society  of  the  Friends  of  Mary  at 
the  Foot  of  the  Cross,"  and  approved  the  rules  and 
xitatutes  which  he  had  prepared.     These  he  printed  in 

»  Bishop  Flaget  to  Pope  Pius  VII.,  April  11,  1815. 

«  Maes,  "  Life  of  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,"  pp.  292-3,  330-343. 


284       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

French  in  Belgium,  and  circulated  to  excite  interest 
in  the  missions  of  the  Bardstown  diocese.  His  moving 
appeal  had  its  effect ;  two  priests  and  eight  semi- 
narians volunteered  to  go  to  America  with  him, 
churches  and  families  gave  church  iDlate,  vestments, 
altar  adornments,  crucifixes,  statues,  paintings.  He 
embarked  with  his  apostolic  party  at  the  Texel,  in 
May,  1817,  but  so  stormy  was  the  passage  that  he  did 
not  reach  Baltimore  till  the  last  days  of  July.  The 
priests  and  all  the  seminarians  had  resolved  to  apply 
for  admission  to^the  Society  of  Jesus  ;  so  that  Bishop 
Flaget  rebuked  him  wdien  he  arrived  at  St.  Thomas 
alone,  though  not  empty-handed.  The  vestments, 
paintings,  bells,  and  other  church  goods  were  trans- 
ported to  Kentucky  at  great  expense  of  time  and 
money,  and  liberally  divided  among  the  missions. 
It  may  be  declared  that  the  services  of  the  church 
then,  for  the  first  time,  could  be  celebrated  with  dig- 
nity ;  fine  sets  of  vestments  replacing  those  of  coarse 
fabric,  trimmed  with  old  bonnet  ribbons,  which  had 
hitherto  done  service.  Many  of  the  fruits  of  this 
European  visit  of  the  venerable  Nerinckx  are  still 
preserved  in  Kentucky.' 

Bishop  Flaget  had  meanwhile  visited  Cincinnati 
and  Cliillicothe  in  Ohio.  A  substantial  log  church 
v^as  put  up  at  Long  Lick  ;  the  Rev.  Peter  Schaeffer, 
a  newly  ordained  Belgian  priest,  whose  physical 
strength  did  not  corresj)ond  to  his  zeal,  took  charge  of 
the  missions  in  Breckenridge  and  Grayson  counties.' 
Overburdened  though  he  was  with  missionary  and 
«piscoj)al  duties.  Bishop  Flaget  entered  the  field  of 

'Maes,  "  Life  of  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,"  pp.  353-360  ;  Le  Sage  Ten 
Broek,  "  De  Zegeprael  van  het  Catholijk  Geloof,"  Amsterdam,  1819. 

*  Webb,  "  Centenary  of  Catholicity  in  Kentucky,"  pp.  144-5. 


BARDSTOWN  CATHEDRAL.  285 

controversy,  to  wliicli  lie  liacl  a  strong  aversion.  But 
the  coarse  tirades  and  challenge  of  a  preacher  named 
Tapscott  required  an  answer.  The  discussion  was 
oral,  and  Tapscott  flew  from  charge  to  charge,  till 
the  Bishop  declined  to  answer  any  more  charges  and 
insisted  on  putting  the  minister  under  interrogation. 
This  was  not  to  his  fancy  and  he  abruptly  withdrew, 
leaving  the  Bishop  the  victory  ;  but  he,  holy  man, 
returning  to  his  poor  apartments,  knelt  down  to  pray  : 
*'  How  happy  shall  I  be,  O  Lord,  if  I  cause  thee  to  be 
knowft  and  loved  by  all  those  unfortunate  sectaries, 
who  are  generally  such,  only  because  they  had  the 
misfortune  to  be  born  in  heresy."^ 

The  erection  of  a  Cathedral  in  the  city  which  the 
Head  of  the  Church  had  selected  as  the  see  of  his  dio- 
cese had  engaged  the  attention  of  Bishop  Flaget  from 
the  time  of  his  appointment,  but  he  found  himself 
homeless  and  without  resources.  His  own  comfort 
and  the  dignity  of  the  episcopate  were  less  important 
in  his  eyes  than  the  good  of  his  flock.  Time  slipped 
by  and  it  was  not  till  some  years  after  his  consecration 
that  he  was  able  to  purchase  a  plot  of  five  acres  in 
Bardstown  at  a  cost  of  seven  hundred  dollars.  On 
this  site  he  proposed  to  erect  his  theological  seminary 
Bud  a  Cathedral.  The  corner-stone  of  the  Cathedral, 
which  was  to  be  dedicated  to  Saint  Joseph,  was  laid 
on  the  16tliof  July,  1816,  four  priests  from  St.  Rose's 
Convent  and  all  the  Seminarians  taking  part  in  the 
ceremonial,  the  Rev.  Mr.  David  preaching  a  luminous 
discourse  on  the  occasion.  The  next  year  the  Bishop 
authorized  his  clergy  and  friends  to  collect  money  and 
subscriptions  for  erecting  the  edifice,  the  plans  for 
w^hich  had  been  furnished  by  Mr.  John  Rogers,  an 

'  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  p.  146. 


286       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

architect  from  Maryland,  who  made  his  home  in  Bards-^ 
town,  1815.  So  i)oor  was  his  flock,  after  the  war  with. 
England,  that  only  fourteen  thousand  dollars  could 
be  raised,  leaving  what  to  the  Bishop  was  an  appalling 
debt  of  $6000.^ 

Bishop  Flaget  was  consoled  to  see  that  churches 
were  rising  at  different  points,  like  St.  Teresa's  in 
Meade  County,  St.  Joseph's,  under  the  care  of  the 
Dominicans,  and  another  church  in  Lebanon.  His 
Seminarians  persevered,  and  he  added  gradually  new 
priests  to  his  diocese  by  ordination,  trained  to  the 
work  before  them.  In  1818,  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx 
and  Rev.  Robert  A.  Abell,  one  of  these  young  priests, 
made  a  missionary  tour  through  southern  and  south- 
western Kentucky  with  consoling  results  ;  and  the 
Dominican  Father  N.  D.  Young,  with  his  Superior 
Father  Edward  Fenwick,  visited  the  Ohio  missions. 

Poor  as  Bishop  Flaget  was,  and  scanty  as  were  his 
accommodations  at  St.  Thomas,  he  opened  his  house 
and  seminary  to  the  priests  of  the  congregation  of  the 
mission  under  the  saintly  Father  Felix  de  Andreis, 
who  had  been  secured  by  Bishoj)  Du  Bourg  for  the 
mission  of  Louisiana,  and  who  reached  Kentucky  in 
November,  1816.  They  remained  there  for  a  year, 
and  meanwhile  Bishop  Flaget, — "who,"  to  use  the 
words  of  Father  De  Andreis,  "  is  continually  on  horse- 
back, riding  here  and  there  like  the  youngest  of  his 
missionaries  ;  he  goes  alone,  without  any  distinction 
of  rank,  save  that  of  taking  for  himself  the  most  dif- 
ficult and  laborious  share  of  the  ministry," — visited 
St.  Louis  to  induce  the  people  in  that  city  to  make 

'  Benoit  Joseph  Flaget Evgque  de  Bardstown a  ses 

compatriotes,"  p.  3  •.  translation  in  Webb,  "  Centenary,"  pp.  340-1,  269. 
Deppen,  "Louisville  Catholic  Family  Guide,"  Louisville,  1887,  p.  16. 
Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  p.  211. 


BISHOP  DAVID,  COADJUTOR.  287 

preparations  for  the  reception  of  Bislioj)  Du  Bourg, 
and  when  that  i^relate  reached  Kentucky,  accompanied 
him  to  St.  Louis  to  install  him  in  the  early  days  of 
1818.1 

Meanwhile  Bishop  Flaget,  feeling  the  burden  of 
his  diocese  and  its  annexed  district  too  heavy  a  weight 
for  himself  to  bear  alone,  apj^lied  to  the  Holy  See  for 
a  coadjutor,  and  on  July  4,  1817,  Rev.  John  Baptist 
David  was  appointed  by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  Bishop 
of  Mauricastro  and  coadjutor  of  Bardstown,  with  the 
right  of  succession.^ 

Troubles  in  Michigan  about  this  time  called  for 
Bishop  Flaget' s  action.  The  Detroit  Catholics  were 
without  a  church.  There  were  differences  of  opinion. 
Some  wished  the  church  nearer  the  Cote  du  Nord  Est, 
others  wished  a  new  i^arish  formed.  Many,  opposed 
to  the  removal  of  the  dead,  refused  to  contribute  to 
the  erection  of  a  new  church.  Rev.  Mr.  Richard  used 
all  his  influence  to  produce  harmony,  but  to  no  pur- 
pose, and  when  the  Bishop  sustained  him,  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  northeast  coast  refused  to  submit  to  the 
decision  of  the  Bishop,  and  Dr.  Flaget  was  compelled 
to  issue  a  pastoral  letter  (Feb.  24,  1817)  and  place  the 
temporary  church  under  an  interdict.^  The  next  year 
he  set  out  in  May  in  hopes  of  effecting  a  restoration 
of  peace  by  his  personal  influence.     At  Cincinnati, 

1 "  Sketches  of  the  Life  of  V.  Rev.  Felix  de  Andreis,"  Baltimore,  1861, 
pp.  118-139  ;    Spalding,    "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  pp.  169-175. 

*  "  Expose  des  faits  incontestables  et  des  documents." 

»  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  men  in  power  in  this  congregation  of 
St.  Anne's  had  been  so  remiss  in  their  duties,  and  so  niggardly,  that  the 
United  States  had  to  sue  for  the  rent  of  the  premises  they  were  tem- 
porarily occupying.  Farmer's  "  Detroit,"  p.  531.  In  most  of  these 
church  troubles  the  noisiest  people  are  those  who  contribute  least,  and 
are  seldom  seen  at  the  table  of  the  Lord. 


^88       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

then  without  priest  or  church,  he  made  arrangements 
for  a  lot  and  stimulated  the  few  Catholics  to  begin 
building  a  church.  Here  he  visited  several  families 
and  baptized  one  child.  After  saying  mass  at  Urbana 
and  baptizing  an  Indian  girl  at  Fort  Finley,  he  reached 
Raisin  River,  but  found  the  church  there  in  such  a 
wretched  condition  that  he  could  not  offer  the  holy 
sacrifice  within  its  walls. 

After  reaching  Detroit,  it  required  only  a  personal  con- 
ference with  the  disaffected  to  obtain  their  submission. 
They  promised  to  remove  the  bodies  from  the  old  ceme- 
tery, and  to  aid  in  erecting  the  new  church.     It  was 

SIGNATURE   OF   BISHOP  DAVID. 

also  agreed  to  bury  the  past  dissensions  in  oblivion. 
The  leaders  signed  the  Pastoral  in  token  of  submission. 

To  render  the  removal  of  the  interdict  of  the  church 
public  and  solemn.  Bishop  Flaget  went  in  procession 
to  it  on  the  9th  of  June.  Addresses  were  delivered  in 
French  and  English.  An  affectionate  public  recon- 
ciliation took  place  between  the  schismatics  and  their 
pastor,  Rev.  Gabriel  Richard.  A  substantial  collec- 
tion taken  up  showed  that  the  erection  of  the  new 
church  was  taken  up  in  earnest. 

A  few  days  after,  while  returning  from  the  house  of 
Gen.  Macomb,  the  horses  of  his  carriage  took  fright, 
and  the  Bishop- was  thrown  down  an  embankment, 
sustaining  an  injury  from  which  he  never  entirely 
recovered.  After  a  visit  to  Quebec,  returning  by  way 
of  Buffalo  and  Cleveland,  he  returned  to  Detroit  in 


A  CHURCH  IN  CINCINNATI.  289 

the  latter  part  of  August,  and  proceeded  to  Sault  St. 
Mary,  in  order  to  attend  a  great  council  to  be  held 
there  with  the  Indian  tribes.  Sickness  prevented 
much  of  the  good  he  hojDed  to  effect  there,  but  he 
returned  to  Detroit  only  to  labor  as  a  missionary  at 
every  station  and  administer  the  sacrament  of  con- 
firmation. At  Raisin  River  he  spent  six  weeks,  giving 
a  regular  mission,  excommunicating  one  man  for  an 
unlawful  marriage,  and  requiring  two  women  to  do 
public  penance. 

Meanwhile  work  on  the  new  church  of  St.  Anne  at 
Detroit  had  been  vigorously  prosecuted.  By  means 
of  collections  and  paper  money,  which  Rev.  Mr. 
Richard  issued,  the  stone,  timber,  and  lime  were 
brought  to  the  spot  and  the  work  rapidly  performed. 
When  the  Bishop  returned  to  the  city  on  the  30th  of 
December  the  cross  was  already  glittering  on  the 
steeple.  He  continued  his  missionary  labors  at  De- 
troit, Cote  du  IN'ord  Est,  and  Raisin  River,  till  after 
the  close  of  Lent,  and  finally  left  Detroit  on  the  29th 
of  May,  having  aroused  the  faith  in  all  that  part  of 
his  charge.^ 

Returning  by  way  of  Pittsburgh  he  found  the 
church  which  the  five  or  six  Catholic  families  of  Cin- 
cinnati had  undertaken,  about  two  miles  outside  the 
city,  roofed  in  and  already  hallowed  by  the  offering 
of  the  holy  sacrifice.  It  was  a  frame  structure,  fifty- 
five  feet  long  by  twenty-five  wide.  He  wrote  in  his  jour- 
nal :  "  It  is  a  great  misfortune  that  no  Catholics  come 
to  settle  in  the  neighborhood  of  this  splendid  city. 
At  present  there  are  no  other  Catholics  in  Cincinnati 
than  laborers  and  clerks  and — such  as  are  to  be  con- 


'  Spalding,  "Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  pp.  182-200;   Farmer,   "De- 
troit," p.  533. 


290       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

verted.  Yet  I  think  that  nothing  should  be  neglected 
to  establish  religion  here  ;  for  the  mercy  of  God  i» 
great,  and  when  He  pleases  He  can  multiply  his 
children."  He  reached  St,  Thomas's,  Kentucky,  on 
the  last  day  of  June,  1819,  to  the  great  joy  of  his 
coadjutor  elect. 

Though  the  bulls  appointing  Rev,  Mr.  David  had 
reached  Kentucky,  November  25,  1817,  his  consecra- 
tion had  been  deferred  in  consequence  of  his  reluc- 
tance to  assume  the  position  by  reason  of  his  age  and 
his  infirmity,  and  from  a  scruple  because  he  had  him- 
self urged  Bishop  Fiaget  to  solicit  a  coadjutor.  His 
objections  were  finally  overcome  by  a  letter  from  Car- 
dinal Litta.  By  this  time  the  mission  of  Kentucky^ 
was  attended  by  Bishop  Fiaget,  his  coadjutor  elect, 
and  eighteen  priests. 

Soon  after  his  return  Bishop  Fiaget  removed  his 
residence  and  his  seminary  to  Bardstown.  He  left  St, 
Thomas  with  great  regret,  and  took  up  his  residence 
near  his  cathedral  on  the  7th  of  August  in  apartments 
which  seemed  to  him  too  grand  for  a  bishop  to  occupy. 
The  next  day  was  that  appointed  for  the  dedication 
of  the  Cathedral,  From  all  parts  of  Kentucky  parties 
of  the  faithful  came,  full  of  honest  pride  in  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Corinthian  edifice.  Many  Protestants 
interested  in  the  Cathedral  also  attended.  The  Bishop 
invested  the  ceremonial  with  all  the  j)omp  his  means 
permitted.  Bishop-elect  David  preaching  during  the 
consecration  service,  and  Rev,  Robert  A,  Abell,  dur- 
ing the  pontifical  mass.  It  was  the  most  imposing- 
ceremony  of  the  Church  yet  witnessed  in  the  West. 

The  Cathedral  of  St.  Josej^h  at  Bardstown  has  in. 
later  days  been  surpassed  by  many  ecclesiastical 
structures,  but  for  the  state  and  the  period  it  wasi 
deemed   remarkable,      A   traveler  in   the   West   de- 


BARDSTOWN  CATHEDRAL  291 

-scribes  it  thus  :  "The  situation  cliosen  for  the  church 
is  truly  admirable.  .  At  the  western  extremity  of  this 
liandsome  little  town,  on  the  road  to  Elizabeth,  is 
erected  this  neat  building,  with  which,  in  this  western 
country,  none  can  vie  in  architecture,  if  we  except  the 
University  of  Lexington  and  the  Louisville  Hospital. 
It  is  very  large  and  beautiful,  comparatively  with 
most  other  buildings  in  these  parts.  On  it  is  raised  a 
liandsome  steeple,  containing  a  large  bell  and  clock, 
having  on  its  summit,  as  usual  in  our  Catholic  churches, 
the  glorious  cross  that  silently  announces,  even  to  the 
distant  traveler,  the  love,  the  mercies,  and  the  tri- 
umphs of  our  Redeemer.  The  ceiling  is  vaulted  and 
four  pillars  on  each  side  sej^arate  the  nave  from  the 
■aisles.  The  sanctuary  is  very  spacious,  and  in  it,  be- 
sides the  high  altar,  there  are  two  others,  and  the 
puli)it  becomingly  decorated.  A  beautiful  painting 
of  the  Crucifixion  hangs  over  the  high  altar,  and  on 
each  side  of  the  wall,  which  from  the  two  side  altars 
near  the  railing  takes  the  inclination  of  a  bow,  are 
two  paintings,  one  representing  the  Descent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  other  the  solemn  reproof  made  by 
Saint  Bernard,  with  the  consecrated  host  in  his  hand, 
to  William  Duke  of  Aquitaine."  ' 

A  week  later,  on  the  feast  of  the  Assumption  of  our 
Lady,  Bishop  David  was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral 
by  Bishop  Flaget,  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx  and  Father 
Wilson,  O.S.D.,  acting  as  assistants,  and  a  future  co- 
adjutor, Rev.  Guy  I.  Chabrat,  delivering  the  sermon. 

The  next  month  the  Seminarians  removed  to  the 
episcopal  residence,  which  thus  became  the  seminary. 
On  Sundays  and  holidays  the  Bishop  and  his  coad- 
jutor were  surrounded  in  the  sanctuary  by  these  can- 


•  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  iv.,  p.  210,  April  13,  1825. 


292       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

didates  for  the  priesthood,   whose  exactness  in  tha 
ceremonial  and  gravity  of  deportment  impressed  all. 

In  November  Bishop  Flaget  made  visitations  extend- 
ing to  Louisville,  New  Albany,  Washington,  and  Vin- 
cennes.  He  soon  after  addressed  a  pastoral  to  the 
Catliolics  of  Michigan,  laying  off  the  territory  where 
the  faithful  were  sufficiently  numerous  into  parishes, 
and  fixing  the  points  where  he  regarded  the  erection 
of  churches  most  feasible  and  most  likely  to  be  con- 
venient/ 

The  territory  north  of  the  Ohio  had  been  tempo- 
rarily placed  nnder  the  care  of  Bishop  Flaget,  and  he 
felt  that  the  time  had  come  for  the  erection  of  ei)isco- 
pal  sees  there.  As  Ohio  was  already  the  home  of 
many  Catholic  families  of  German  speech,  he  urged 
that  a  see  should  be  erected  at  Cincinnati,  and  for  its 
first  Bishop  he  recommended  the  Rev.  Demetrius  A. 
Gallitzin,  educated  in  Germany,  and  familiar  with  the 
language  and  ideas  of  the  people.  In  this  selection 
Archbishop  Marechal  and  Bishop  Du  Bourg  concurred, 
but  the  good  Russian  priest,  learning  of  the  project, 
peremptorily  refused.  For  the  see  of  Detroit  the  two 
Bishops  recommended  Rev.  Father  John  Grassi,  Su- 
perior of  the  Jesuit  Mission  in  the  United  States.^  The 
Congregation  "  de  Propaganda  Fide "  regarded  the 
erection  of  a  see  at  Detroit  inexpedient,  but  it  was 
decided  to  erect  the  see  of  Cincinnati,  the  diocese  ta 
embrace  the  State  of  Ohio  ;  ^  Father  Edward  Fen  wick, 

'  "  Lettre  pastorale  k  tons  les  Catholiques  du  Detroit  et  du  Territoire- 
Michigan." 

'  Bishop  Flaget  to  a  Cardinal,  Nov.  5,  1820.  He  recommended  F. 
Grassi,  or  F.  Benedict  Fenwick,  for  Detroit,  as  he  deemed  that  district  a. 
field  that  required  regulars. 

3 Pius  VII  ,  Bull,  "Inter  multiplices,"  June  19,  1831.  Bullarium  de 
Propaganda  Fide,  iv. ,  p.  385. 


EDUCATION.  29a 

O.  S.  D.,  subsequently  recommended,  was  appointed, 
and  he  was  soon  after  made  Administrator  Apostolic- 
of  Michigan  and  Northwest  Territory.^ 

This  was  a  great  relief  to  the  mind  of  Bishop  Flaget 
who  remained  responsible  only  for  Indiana  and  Illinois 
north  of  the  Ohio,  and  Bishop  Dii  Boiirg,  who  owed 
much  to  him,  agreed  to  provide  for  several  of  the 
missions  in  the  latter  State,  easily  reached  from  St. 
Louis.  But  he  was  menaced  with  the  loss  of  Bishop 
David,  who  was  proposed  for  the  see  of  Philadelphia. 
Against  this  Bishop  Flaget  i^rotested,  as  it  involved 
the  destruction  of  his  diocesan  seminary. 

Bishop  Flaget  had  seen  two  religious  communities  of 
women  formed  for  works  of  charity  and  for  primary 
instruction  of  the  young ;  he  beheld  their  progress, 
and  missions  already  established  by  both,  and  prepa- 
rations on  hand  for  the  opening  of  female  academies 
of  a  higher  grade. 

The  education  of  boys  was  the  next  thought.  The 
Dominicans  had  come  to  Kentucky  expressly  to  open 
an  academy  for  boys,  and  they  founded  the  first 
Catholic  school  in  the  State,  which  was  maintained 
for  several  years.  But  the  time  of  the  Dominicans 
was  more  especially  needed  for  mission  work  as 
priests.  Their  scholasticate  for  members  of  their 
order  preparing  for  holy  orders  was,  however,  main- 
tained ;  the  young  Dominican  novices  and  students^ 
for  want  of  lay  brothers,  doing  much  outdoor  manual 
labor.^ 

The  holy  priest  Nerinckx  had  secured  a  farm  before 

'"Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  ii.,  p.  88.  Bullarium  de 
Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  p.  89. 

2F.  Thomas  Wilson,  O.P.,  to  F.  Augustine  Hill,  O.P.,  July  23,  1820. 
Appeal  of  F.  Wilson  in  "  Origine  et  Progres  de  la  Mission  du  Kentucky," 
Paris,  1821,  p.  31-2. 


■294       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

he  went  to  Europe,  and  returned  with  some  young 
Belgians  whom  he  designed  as  the  first  members  of  a 
community  of  Brothers  who  were  to  accomplish  for 
boys  the  same  work  that  the  Loretto  Sisters  were  so 
faithfully  doing  for  the  young  of  their  own  sex  ;  but 
his  farm  was  taken   for  other  uses  and  the  project 
failed.      The  Rev.  William  Byrne,  trained  at  Mount 
St.  Mary's  and  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore,  where 
he  received  subdeacon's  orders,  was  received  by  Bishoj) 
Flaget,  and  with  Rev.  G.  A.  M.  Elder,  were  the  first 
priests   ordained  in   Bardstown   Cathedral,    and   the 
first  elevated  to   the   priesthood  by  Bishop   David. 
Rev.  Mr.  Byrne  was  appointed  to  the  care  of  the  con- 
gregations of  St,  Charles  and  Holy  Mary.     Seeing  the 
want  of  an  academy  for  boys,  he  secured   the  farm 
selected  by  Rev.  C.  Nerinckx,  and  paid  for  it.     Here, 
in  the  spring  of  1821,  he  opened  St.  Mary's  Seminary, 
in  an  old  distillery  on  the  place  ;  his  terms  were  char- 
acteristic of  the  country.     Parents  were  to  pay  for  the 
board  of  their  sons  in  provisions  ;  for  tuition,  in  work 
or  money.     Though  encumbered  by  his  parochial  du- 
ties, often  requiring  long  journeys  on  horseback,  he 
was  sole  prefect  and  teacher  of  his  academy  till  he 
had  trained  pupils  to  aid  him.     The  school  was  so  well 
conducted  that  it  became  popular,  and  he  had  raised 
an  additional  building,  when  he  returned  after  a  brief 
absence  to  find  it  in  ashes.     But  he  was  undaunted, 
and  persevered.     The  course  of  studies  enlarged,  his 
institution  was  incorporated  by  the  State  as  St.  Mary's 
College,  and  finding  it  beyond  his  ability  to  direct  as 
he  desired,  he  transferred  it  in  time  to  the  Fathers  of 
■the  Society  of  Jesus. 

A  fellow  student  of  Rev.  Mr.  Byrne  in  Maryland, 

'  ]\Iaes,  "  Life  of  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,"  p.  386. 


EDUCATION.  295 

Kev.  George  A.  M.  Elder,  in  1820,  opened  a  school  for 
boys  in  the  basement  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at 
Bardstown,  but  it  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  a 
separate  building  soon  bore  the  name  of  St.  Joseph's 
College.  The  students  of  a  Southern  seat  of  learning 
■swelled  its  numbers.  For  many  years  the  college 
prospered,  guided  by  its  founder,  and  for  a  time  by 
Hev.  Mr.  Reynolds,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Charleston.^ 
The  diocese  in  the  backwoods  was  thus  better  equipped 
for  Christian  work  than  any  other  except  Baltimore. 
It  had  its  secular  and  regular  clergy,  each  with  a  house 
of  studies  for  supplying  candidates  for  the  priesthood  ; 
it  had  high  schools  for  the  young  of  both  sexes,  as 
well  as  more  rudimentary  schools  ;  it  had  two  commu- 
nities of  women  created  in  the  diocese  and  fitted  for 
instruction  and  works  of  mercy  ;  but  it  had  its  Fhiget 
and  its  David,  its  Nerinckx,  Badin,  Fenwick,  Wilson, 
Byrne,  and  Elder,  each  a  host  in  himself. 

With  the  calls  upon  him.  Bishop  Flaget  had  as  yet 
been  unable  to  visit  the  State  of  Tennessee,  though 
Rev.  Mr.  Badin  had  made  four  excursions  into  that 
part  of  the  diocese.  IS'ow  that  he  Avas  relieved  of  part 
of  his  charge  and  had  clergy  to  attend  the  more 
numerous  congregations  in  Kentucky,  he  set  out  in 
May,  1821,  to  visit  the  handful  of  Catholics  in  Ten- 
nessee. Journeying  by  way  of  Breckenridge  County, 
Litchfield,  and  Bowling  Green,  he  reached  Nnshville 
■on  the  10th,  accompanied  by  Rev.  R.  A.  Abell.  The 
next  day  he  offered  the  holy  sacrifice  in  the  house  of 
Mr.  Montbrun,  his  host,  who  was  deeply  affected  by 
the  honor  conferred  upon  him.  The  Catholics  in  and 
^around  Nashville  were  estimated  at  sixty,  and  not 
more  than  half  as  many  more  in  all  the  rest  of  the 


1  Spalding,  "  Sketches  of  Kentucky,"  pp.  264-284. 


296       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

State.  With  such  a  scanty  flock  the  establishment  of 
a  church  seemed  a  bold  undertaking :  but  Bishop 
Flaget  resolved  to  make  the  attemjDt.  Protestants 
showed  great  liberality.  Mr.  Foster  offered  a  lot 
seventy  feet  by  one  hundred  as  a  site  for  the  church  ; 
courtesies  were  extended  on  all  sides,  and  the  holy 
sacrifice  was  attended  not  only  by  the  Catholics,  but. 


BEV.    STEPHEN   T.    BADEN. 

by  many  prominent  persons  of  all  denominations.- 
Rev.  Mr.  Abell's  sermons  in  the  Court  House  were- 
attentively  followed.  The  Bishop  and  his  companion 
then  visited  Franklin  and  Columbia.  At  the  latter 
place  a  subscription  was  taken  up  and  a  purse  of  two 
hundred  dollars  and  a  new  suit  of  clothes  were  pre- 
sented to  Mr.  Abell  as  the  public  appreciation  of  the 
dressing  he  gave  a  ranting  minister. 

Soon  after  his  return  the  Bishop   welcomed  back 
from  Europe  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,  and  Rev.  Mr. 


VINCENNES.  297 

Chabrat,    who    came    with    the    fruits    of    their   aj)- 
peal. 

In  March,  1823,  he  stationed  at  Yincennes  the  Rev. 
J.  L.  ChamiDauniier,  whom  lie  had  recently  ordained. 
He  was  the  first  priest  whom  Bishop  Flaget  had  been 
able  to  place  permanently  in  Indiana.  The  Bishoj)  in 
the  summer  visited  his  old  scene  of  parochial  work  to 
arouse  the  people  to  support  their  pastor  in  his  exer- 
tions for  their  welfare.^  The  young  j^riest,  however, 
found  himself  in  a  very  difficult  position.  Abandon- 
ing the  old  system  of  marguilliers,  the  congregation 
had  obtained  from  the  legislature  a  charter  of  incor- 
poration. The  men  elected  trustees  were,  as  usual, 
merely  nominal  Catholics  who  never  approached  the 
sacraments.  The  church  was  tottering  to  ruin,  and  a 
new  one  imperatively  demanded,  but  these  men  would 
do  nothing.  The  zealous  efforts  of  Rev.  Mr.  Cham- 
paumier  to  revive  religious  feelings  in  the  hearts  of 
those  who  were  torjpid  or  indifferent  aroused  ojdido- 
sition. 

At  the  time  of  his  visit  these  troubles  had  not  cul- 
minated, and  as  Rev.  Mr.  Cham]Daumier  desired  to 
establish  a  school,  the  Bishop  subsequently  sent  Sis- 
ters of  Charity  to  Indiana,  who  opened  one  near  the 
old  church.^ 

While    in  Indiana  Bishop  Flaget  visited    Mount 


'  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  p.  235-8. 

» lb.,  p.  238-9.  Letter  of  Rev.  J.  L.  Champaumier,  Sept. ,  13, 1825,  in  U. 
S.  Cath.  Misc.,  v.,  p.  236.  Bishop  Flaget  to  Mr.  Badolet,  Jan.  18,  1825. 
A  writer  in  the  Catholic  Miscellany,  v.,  p.  377  :  "  Were  you  to  see  this 
edifice  which  I  style  a  church,  you  would  doubtless  call  in  question  its 
right  to  that  name,  and  rather  denominate  it  a  ruined  hovel.  But  I  give 
it  that  appellation,  notwithstanding  its  rough  materials,  unseemly  form, 
and  ruinous  condition,  because  it  was  erected  by  the  Jesuit  missionaries 
to  serve  as  such." 


298       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Pleasant,  Washington,  and  two  French  settlements  on 
the  Wabash,  administering  confirmation  at  several 
points.^ 

The  diocese  was  soon  to  receive  a  blow  in  the  de- 
parture and  death  of  the  venerable  Charles  Nerinckx. 
His  Order  was  extending,  and  when  the  election  of 
a  superior  general  was  held,  on  the  feast  of  the 
Annunciation,  1822,  and  Sister  Juliana  Wathen  was 
elected,  the  Loretto  community  had  convents  at 
Loretto,  Calvary,  Gethsemane,  and  Bethania,  besides 
one  at  Mechlin,  Belgium.  The  next  year  they  opened 
other  houses  at  Mount  Carmel  and  Mount  Olivet. 
They  also  sent  a  colony  to  Missouri  where  they 
founded  the  Bethlehem  convent,  in  poverty  worthy  of 
the  name. 

Meanwhile  the  holy  founder  was  engaged  on  his  last 
work  in  Kentucky,  the  erection  of  a  brick  church  at 
Holy  Cross,  when  a  trouble  arose  which  deprived 
Kentucky  of  his  services  and  menaced  the  existence 
of  the  Sisterhood.  The  Rev.  Guy  I.  Chabrat,  who 
had  been  appointed  by  the  Bishop,  confessor  of  the 
Bethania  convent,  attempted  to  alter  the  Rules  which 
had  been  confirmed  by  Pope  Pius  VII.  He  com- 
plained to  Bishop  Flaget  of  Rev.  Mr.  Nerinckx  as 
visionary  and  excessively  rigorous.  The  Bishop  was 
reluctant  to  act,  but  as  Rev.  Mr.  Chabrat  persisted, 
Rev.  Mr.  Nerinckx  resolved  to  leave  Kentucky  and 
the  Sisterhood.  In  the  last  days  of  May  he  addressed 
his  parting  letters  to  the  community  which  he  had 
founded.  He  left  Loretto  on  the  16ch  of  June,  in  very 
ill  health,  and  on  the  feast  of  the  Visitation  surprised 
the  Loretto  Sisters  at  Bethlehem,  Missouri,  by  his 
sudden  appearance  among  them.     After  a  brief  rest 

'  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  p.  239. 


DEATH  OF  REV.  C.  NERINCKX.  299 

he  proceeded  to  the  Barrens,  and  was  received  into  the 
diocese  by  Bishop  Rosati.  Full  of  projects  for  the 
Indian  missions  and  the  instruction  of  Indian  girls  at 
the  houses  of  the  Loretto  Sisters,  he  set  out  for  the 
Bethlehem  convent,  but  could  proceed  no  further  than 
St.  Genevieve,  where  he  expired  August  12,  1824,  as- 
sisted in  death  by  the  Lazarist  Father  Dahmen. 

His  unexpected  death  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the 
Sisters  in  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  which  was  felt 
more  keenly  when  Rev.  Guy  I.  Chabrat,  appointed 
ecclesiastical  superior  of  the  community,  burned  all 
the  writings  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Nerinckx,  and  many  of 
tlie  books  which  were  the  source  of  his  meditations^ 
His  last  letter  to  the  Sisters,  though  actually  given  to 
the  flames,  was  fortunately  rescued. 

Bishop  Flaget  felt  deeply  the  loss  of  the  holy  pio- 
neer priest,  to  whom  Kentucky  owed  so  much.  In  the 
requiem  mass  offered  for  him  in  the  Cathedral  at 
Bardstown,  Bishop  Flaget  pronounced  a  glowing  eulo- 
gy on  his  virtues,  and  he  addressed  to  Bishop  England 
an  account  of  the  great  priest,  which  shows  his  admira- 
tion and  esteem.  ''  He  lives  amongst  us  in  his  works, 
and  the  monuments  of  the  zeal  of  my  virtuous  friend 
are  so  multiplied  in  my  diocese,  and  his  generous  self- 
devotion  so  well  appreciated,  that  his  name  and  that 
of  his  beneficent  country  are  embalmed  in  the  memory 
of  my  flock.  The  legacy  which  my  people  value  most 
is  that  of  '  The  Friends  of  Mary  at  the  Foot  of  the 
Cross'  ;  this  admirable  institution  is  their  delight. 
The  virtuous  daughters  of  this  Society  are  the  edifica- 
tion of  all  who  know  them  ;  their  singular  piety  and 
their  penitential  lives  remind  us  of  all  that  we  have 
read  of  the  ancient  monasteries  of  Palestine  and  of 
Thebais.  Their  number  is  over  one  hundred  ;  they 
have  charge  of  six  schools.     They  give  education  to 


300       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

upwards  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  little  girls  yearly  in 
their  houses,  and  take  in  some  orphans  gratis."  .  .  . 
"Mr.  Nerinckx  himself  led  an  extremely  austere  and 
mortified  life  ;  his  dress,  his  lodging,  his  food  was 
poor,  and  he  has  filled  his  monasteries  with  this  holy 
spirit."  "But  nothing  could  exceed  the  devotion  of 
Mr.  Nerinckx  to  the  Holy  Sacrament  of  our  altars  ;  in 
this  respect  he  was  a  model  for  every  clergyman." 
"A  rule  of  his  monasteries  is  to  keep  up  during  even 
the  night  the  Perpetual  Adoration  by  a  succession  of 
two  Sisters  to  two  Sisters  before  the  Holy  Sacrament 
to  pay  their  homage  to  the  God  who  loved  us  so 
dearly,  as  after  suffering  for  us  to  give  us  under  the 
sacramental  veil  his  flesh  to  eat ;  to  repair  in  some 
degree  the  disres^Dect  with  which  the  sacrament  is 
treated  by  the  ingratitude  of  the  human  race."  "  It 
was  to  be  expected  that  so  holy  a  life  should  be  ter- 
minated by  a  holy  death." 

The  remains  of  this  great  servant  of  God  were  car- 
ried to  Bethlehem,  but  in  time  were  transferred  to 
Loretto  in  Kentucky,  where  they  rest.  His  life  has 
been  written  by  Right  Rev.  Camillus  P.  Maes,  D.D., 
now  Bishop  of  Covington.^ 

About  1822,  another  community  of  religious  women 
was  formed  near  St  Rose's  Convent  and  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Fathers  Preachers.  Father  Wilson  is 
regarded  as  the  founder.     Several  pious  members  of 

•  Bishop  Flaget  to  Bishop  England,  in  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  iii.,  pp. 
358-361. 

*  The  Life  of  Rev.  Charles  Nerinckx,  with  a  chapter  on  the  Early- 
Missions  of  Kentucky,  copious  notes  on  the  progress  of  Catholicity  in 
the  United  States  of  America  from  1800  to  1825  ;  an  Account  of  the 
Establishment  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  in  Missouri  ;  and  a  Historical 
Sketch  of  the  Sisterhood  of  Loretto  in  Kentucky,  Missouri,  New 
Mexico,  etc.     Cincinnati,  Robert  Clarke  &  Co.,  1880,  8vo,  635  pp. 


DEATH  OF  REV.  C.  NERINCKX.  301 

his  flock  adopted  the  rule  of  the  Third  Order  of  St. 
Dominic  and  making  vows  for  life  began  the  Convent 
of  St.  Magdalen  about  a  mile  from  St.  Rose's.  The 
new  house,  w^ith  its  school,  prosj^ered,  and  in  1828  a 
colony  of  these  Sisters  founded  St.  Mary's  Convent, 
Somerset,  Ohio.' 

In  a  letter  to  the  Holy  See  in  January  1826,  Bishop 
Flaget  describes  his  diocese.  Rev.  Mr.  Mulholland,  a 
priest  educated  in  his  Seminary,  had  three  congrega- 
tions and  attended  four  stations  in  Northern  Ken- 
tucky, and  directed  a  house  of  Loretto  Sisters  in  his 
district.  Rev.  Mr.  Coombs,  another  priest  brought 
up  by  him,  had  two  congregations,  several  stations  and 
a  house  of  Sisters  of  Charity.  The  Dominican  con- 
vent under  Father  Tuite  as  prior,  with  Fathers  Miles, 
Montgomery,  and  Paulinus,  all  educated  in  Kentucky, 
and  several  students,  attended  a  large  congregation 
and  attended  many  stations.  Sisters  of  the  Third 
Order  of  St.  Dominic,  devoted  to  the  education  of  girls, 
had  a  thriving  academy  and  there  was  a  flourishing 
school  for  boys  also  in  operation.  Bardstown  had  its 
seminary  and  college,  which  had  already  proved  their 
fruitfulness.  The  community  of  Brothers  gave  hopes 
that  were  never  realized. 

Twelve  miles  south  of  Bardstown  was  Holy 
Cross,  the  first  church  in  Kentucky  with  two  priests, 
and  a  Loretto  convent,  with  an  orphan  asylum  nine 
miles  off  attended  by  the  Sisters.  Rev.  Guy  I.  Chabrat, 
priest  at  St.  Louis  and  its  missions,  being  Superior  of 
the  community  founded  by  the  lamented  Nerinckx. 
Very  Rev.  Mr.  Byrne's  college  with  its  hundred  pupils 
was  eight  miles  from  Loretto,  and  at  about  the  same 

'  Bishop  Spalding,  "  Sketches  of  Kentucky,"  p.  161  ;  "  Breve  Narra- 
zione  della  Promulgazione  del  Giubileo  ....  nella  Diocesi  di  Bards- 
town." 


302       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

distance  Rev.  Mr.  Deparcq directed  St.  Mary's  Churcli.. 
To  tlie  west,  Rev.  Mr.  Butler  liad  three  congregations, 
several  stations,  and  the  Mount  Carmel  house  of  the 
Lorettines.  Further  west,  Rev,  Mr,  Durbin,  destined 
to  labor  to  an  advanced  age,  had  three  congregations 
and  several  stations. 

Kentucky  could  claim  fourteen  log-churches  and 
ten  of  brick.  Rev,  Mr.  Kenrick,  future  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore,  "excelling  among  the  excellent,"  be- 
sides his  duties  as  professor  to  18  students  attended 
St.  Joseph's  Church.  St.  Joseph's  College  had  flour- 
ished with  two  hundred  pupils,  ten  seminarians  acting 
as  tutors  or  prefects,  while  pursuing  their  theological 
course.  Kentucky  thus  had  two  bishops,  twenty-twa 
priests,  and  three  houses  to  which  the  Church  might 
look  for  a  future  supply  of  priests. 

In  Indiana  the  church  of  Vincennes  was  directed 
by  Rev.  Mr,  Champaumier,  struggling  hard  to  put  it 
on  a  better  footing,  aided  by  the  school  of  the  Sistera 
of  Charity.  Other  stations  in  Indiana  were  visited 
from  Kentucky,  especially  from  St,  Michael's  and. 
Union  County.  While  the  priest  in  Breckenridge 
County  at  least  once  a  year,  but  as  a  rule  more  fre- 
quently, pushed  on  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  Nash- 
ville, the  only  spot  in  Tennessee  that  could  boast  a. 
Catholic  congregation.^ 

The  indulgence  in  the  form  of  a  Jubilee  proclaimed 
by  Pope  Leo  XII.,  on  ascending  the  Pontifical  throne, 
became  for  the  Catholics  of  Kentucky  a  season  of 
great  spiritual  advantage.  It  was  the  first  time  that 
the  great  season  of  thanksgiving  and  prayer  was  pro- 
claimed among  them.     To  prepare  his  clergy  for  the- 


>  Bishop  Flaget  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect,  Jan.  19,  1826.     "  Breve  Nar- 
razione  della  promulgazione  del  Giubileo." 


THE  JUBILEE.  303 

great  work  which  God  and  his  Church  expected  at 
their  hands  for  the  good  of  the  faithful,  Bishop  Flaget 
convened  the  priests  of  his  diocese  for  a  spiritual  re- 
treat in  the  first  week  of  Se^Dtember,  1826.  The  retreat 
was  attended  by  fifteen  priests,  fifteen  seminarians, 
and  seven  applicants  for  tonsure,  one  of  them  Martin 
John  Spalding.  On  the  10th  of  September,  the 
Bishop  promulgated  the  Jubilee  in  his  Cathedral,  and 
began  the  exercises,  which  lasted  a  week.  Bishop 
Flaget  then  i)roi)osed  to  visit  each  congregation  in  his 
diocese  accompanied  by  one  or  two  missionaries,  and 
give  a  similar  series  of  exercises,  instructions,  and 
exhortations  in  each,  reaping  a  harvest  of  conversions 
from  sin  and  error.  When  Bisho]3  David  took  it  up 
at  St.  Thomas,  Bishop  Flaget  i^roceeded,  with  Rev. 
Francis  P.  Kenrick,  to  St.  John  Baptist's  in  Bullitt 
County,  where  the  neat  wooden  church  was  thronged  ; 
then  to  St,  Michael's  log  chapel  in  Nelson  County, 
near  which  a  community  of  the  Loretto  Sisters  carried 
on  their  pious  work.  Then  tlie  Jubilee  missionaries 
visited  St.  Michael's  log  chapel  in  Spencer  County, 
as  well  as  Bloomfield,  a  town  with  few  Catholics,  but 
where  malignant  attacks  had  been  published  which  it 
was  deemed  important  to  silence.  Rev.  Mr.  Kenrick 
was  soon  after  stricken  down  by  disease,  and  his  evan- 
gelical labors  were  suspended  for  a  time."^ 

Bishop  Flaget,  with  three  priests,  in  November  vis- 
aed the  tottering  log  chapel  of  St.  Charles,  in  Wash- 
ington County,  Holy  Mary's,  the  brick  church  in 
Lebanon,  where  a  family  of  eleven  converts  was  re- 
ceived into  the  Church.     The  fine  convent  and  church 

^  "Breve  Narrazione  della  Promulgazione  delGiubileo."  U.  S.  Cath- 
olic Miscall,  vi. ,  pp.  103,  175.  In  the  first  part  of  this  visitation  as  far 
as  St.  Teresa's,  Madison  Co.,  there  were  4250  communions,  and  the 
Bishop  confirmed  726.     "Breve  Narrazione." 


304       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  Loretto  also  enjoyed  the  honor  of  jubilee  exercises 
given  by  the  Bishop. 

When  travel  was  practicable  in  the  spring,  the  work 
was  resumed  at  St.  Peter's  Church  near  Lexington  ; 
Frankfort  with  its  one  Catholic  family  was  next  vis- 
ited, and  mass  was  offered  in  the  pious  home  of  a  ven- 
erable old  man,  about  four  miles  distant,  and  also  at 
Flat  Creek  ;  other  small  stations  were  visited  on  the 
way  to  Ovvensville.  After  this  the  Jubilee  was  pro- 
claimed in  St.  Rose's,  one  of  the  most  numerous  con- 
gregations in  the  State.  In  Springfield,  after  the  close 
of  a  conference,  a  Rev.  Mr.  Sneed,  the  Presbyterian 
minister,  attempted  to  reply  to  the  arguments  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Kenrick,  but  the  skillful  theologian  soon  demol- 
ished his  sophistries,  exjjosed  his  ignorance,  perver- 
sion, and  uncharitableness.  The  Protestants  retired, 
deeply  impressed  with  the  utter  defeat  of  their  advo- 
cate. St.  Hubert's  neat  little  brick  church  next 
received  the  Bishop,  then  Holy  Cross,  St.  Vincent's 
near  New  Haven,  and  Gethsemani. 

In  November  the  Bishop  opened  the  Jubilee  exer- 
cises in  the  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Union  County, 
then  in  a  log  house  in  Daviess  County,  in  St.  An- 
thony's, St.  Teresa's,  and  St.  Mary's  in  Indiana,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Ohio.  The  aged  Bishop  traveled  on 
horseback  by  the  roughest  roads,  often  benighted  in 
woods  or  poor  districts,  where  it  was  almost  imj^os- 
sible  to  find  food  or  shelter. 

The  diffusion  of  Catholic  doctrine  by  the  confer- 
ences given  in  all  large  towns,  roused  no  little  antago- 
nism, but  Catholicity  was  everywhere  in  the  ascend- 
ant and  many  Protestants  were  convinced  and  sought 
admission  to  the  Church.  Almost  all  the  Catholics  of 
Kentucky,  we  are  assured,  approached  the  sacraments 
during  this  season  of  grace.     In  twenty-one  congrega- 


STATE  OF  THE  DIOCESE.  305 

tions  1216  were  confirmed,  and  more  than  six  thou- 
sand approached  holy  communion.^ 

The  religions  excitement  caused  by  the  Jubilee 
exercises  led  an  impostor  to  attempt  to  profit  by  it. 
Avoiding  the  route  announced  by  the  Bishop  and  his 
missionaries,  this  man  pretended  to  be  a  priest  and 
bishop-elect  of  Illinois,  and  preached  in  some  parts  of 
Kentucky  and  Illinois,  until  his  knavery  was  exposed 
by  Rev.  John  Timon  and  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick.^ 

Encouraged  and  consoled  by  the  precious  fruits  of 
the  Jubilee,  Bishop  Flaget  looked  forward  to  peace 
;and  progress  in  his  diocese.  In  1828  he  visited  Balti- 
more to  consecrate  Archbishop  Whitfield,  the  third 
successor  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  at  whose  hands  he 
had  received  the  sacred  unction.  He  visited  St. 
Mary's  Seminary  and  Georgetown  College,  scenes  of 
his  early  labors  as  an  instructor  ;  as  well  as  Emmits- 
burg  with  its  college  and  academy. 

The  next  year  he  begun  his  fifth  visitation,  and 
after  installing  Rev.  Mr.  Abell  in  Louisville,  gave  the 
Jubilee  exercises  in  New  Albany,  and  in  the  log  chapel 
at  the  Knobs,  in  Indiana ;  then  at  Mount  Pleasant, 
Black  Oak  Ridge,  and  Vincennes.^ 

We  have  thus  a  picture  of  the  progress  and  actual 
condition  of  Catholicity  in  the  diocese  of  Bardstown 
xit  the  time  appointed  for  the  first  Council  of  Balti- 
more. 


'  "Breve  Narrazione,"  etc  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  vi.,  pp.  169,  327  ; 
vii.,  pp.  31-378.     Spalding,  •'  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  p.  260. 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Misc.,  vii.,  p.  22.     Stato  della  Religione  negli  Stati 
Uniti,"  1827. 

^  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  p.  265. 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

DIOCESE  OF  CHARLESTON. 
KT.  REV.  JOHN  ENGLAND,  D.D.,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1820-1829, 

The  steps  which  led  to  the  hasty  erection  of  the 
sees  of  Richmond  and  Charleston  need  not  be  repeated. 
The  selection  for  the  see  of  Charleston  fell  on  a  priest 
of  great  merit  and  energy,  who  had  already  been 
desirous  of  devoting  himself  to  the  missions  of  the 
United  States,  The  Rev.  John  England,  residing  at 
Bandon,  as  parish  priest  of  Killorgan  and  Bally- 
moodan,  received  on  the  10th  of  July,  1820,  a  letter 
from  Rev.  Henry  Hughes  at  Rome,  notifying  him  of 
his  appointment  to  the  see  of  Charleston.  That  see 
was  erected  the  next  day,  July  11,  by  a  bull  of  his 
Holiness,  Pope  Pius  VII.  Letters  followed  with  his 
bulls,  forwarded  by  Cardinal  Somagiia,  Prefect  of  the 
Propaganda,  urging  him  to  proceed  as  soon  as  possible 
to  America,  and  referring  him  for  guidance  to  the 
Rev.  Robert  Browne,  avIio  had  defied  the  authority  of 
three  successive  Archbishops  of  Baltimore,  abandoned 
his  Augusta  mission,  and  intruded  himself  into  the 
church  at  Charleston. 

Yielding  to  the  urgent  directions  in  these  and  other 
letters  tlie  Rev.  Mr.  England  resigned  his  2:)arishes  in 
Ireland  and  prepared  to  accept  the  burden  imposed 
him.^  He  was  a  priest  of  remarkable  talents,  of 
experience  in  various  departments  of  priestly  labor 
as  professor  in  an  ecclesiastical  seminary,  chaplain  of 

'  Diary  of  Bishop  England. 
306 


BISHOP  ENGLAND.  307 

prisons  and  refuges,  rector  of  a  large  parish.  He  had 
been  thrown  much  among  men,  and  was  able  to  adapt 
himself  to  circumstances.  He  was  not  in  good  stand- 
ing with  the  English  government,  but  it  was  consid- 
ered that  this  could  do  no  harm  in  the  United  States. 
He  was  a  native  of  Cork,  born  in  that  city  on  the  23d 
of  September,  1786,  and  in  his  early  days  showed  great 
piety,  noble  thoughts  and  aspirations,  as  well  as  a 
deep  sense  of  the  sufferings  of  others.  When  in  the 
course  of  his  studies  he  manifested  a  desire  to  become 
a  priest  of  the  most  high  God,  his  parents  encouraged 
his  pious  thought  and  fostered  his  vocation.  After 
being  prepared  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Dean  McCarthy 
he  entered  Carlow  College  in  1803.  While  studying 
here  the  young  ecclesiastic  devoted  his  leisure  to  the 
instruction  of  Catholics  in  a  corps  of  militia  stationed 
at  Carlow,  and  was  instrumental  in  establishing  a 
reformatory  for  women,  and  poor  schools  for  children 
of  both  sexes.  He  was  ordained  priest  by  dispensa- 
tion on  the  10th  of  October,  1808,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Moy- 
lan,  Bishop  of  Cork,  raising  him  to  that  holy  order  in 
his  cathedral.  His  earliest  labors  were  as  preacher  in 
Cork  Cathedral,  director  of  a  Magdalen  Asylum,  and 
founder  of  the  "Religious  Repertory,"  a  Catholic 
periodical.  He  urged  the  appointment  of  a  Catholic 
bhaplain  at  the  prison,  and  till  provision  was  made 
offered  his  services.  In  1812  this  active  and  zealous 
jmest  was  made  President  of  the  Diocesan  College  of 
St.  Mary,  founded  by  Bishop  Moylan.  His  active 
zeal  was  displayed  here  also,  and  once  on  his  way  to 
Dublin  when  the  mail  stage  was  stopped  by  a  heavy 
•snow,  he  attempted  to  push  on  afoot,  till  he  sank 
•exhausted  in  the  snow,  and  Avould  have  perished  had 
3iot  a  countryman  providentially  discoved  him.  Rev. 
llr.  England  was  an  active  opponent  of  the  proposed 


308       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

grant  to  the  English  government  of  a  power  to  prevent 
by  a  veto  the  nominations  of  bishops  in  Ireland  by 
the  bishops  and  clergy.  He  was  thus  known  as  a 
vigorous  and  logical  writer.  In  1817  he  was  ai3pointed 
by  Bishop  Murphy  parish  priest,  and  held  tlie  posi- 
tion, as  we  have  seen,  when  the  announcement  reached 
him  of  his  elevation  to  the  episcopal  rank.  He  had 
yearned  to  j)roceed  to  the  land  of  the  free,  for  his 
grandfather,  desx)oiled  of  everything,  had  spent  years 
in  prison ;  his  grandmother  died  of  a  fever  caused 
by  the  cruelty  ;  his  own  father,  for  teaching  a  few 
scholars  without  taking  a  sacrilegious  oath,  was  hunted 
to  the  mountains.^  His  active  life  had  not  ]3ermitted 
him  to  acquire  the  fund  of  theological  knowledge 
which  the  cloistered  religious  obtain  by  years  of 
patient  study.  As  he  himself  said:  "Much  of  my 
life  has  been  spent  in  dungeons  with  convicts  as  their 
chaplain — in  prison  Avith  those  who  were  to  suffer 
death,  guilty  and  innocent ;  in  the  prisons  of  the  irre- 
claimably  depraved,  in  the  care  of  Magdalen  Asylums, 
and  in  the  superintendence  of  convents  of  nuns,  Ursu- 
lines  and  others,  as  to  their  discipline — under  the 
contemptuous  frown  of  the  persecutor  and  in  the 
councils  of  the  public  offices,  with  the  best  and  worst 
men  of  society,  with  the  best  informed  and  the  most 
ignorant.  IS'ine  years  thus  spent  left  me  little  leisure 
for  my  books.  I  was  then  during  part  of  my  time 
charged  with  the  teaching  of  theology  and  the  super- 
intendence of  a  seminary,  after  which  I  was  taken 
again  from  my  books  to  the  charge  of  a  large  parish 
and  the  vicarial  inspection  of  ten  others  as  Vicar 
foraneus."  ^ 

'  Sketches  in  Works  of  Bishop  England,  i.,  pp.  1,  etc. 
2  Bishop  England  to  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute,  Aug.  28,  1825. 


CONSECRATION.  309 

He  prepared  by  a  retreat  for  the  great  and  responsi- 
ble duty  imposed  upon  him,  and  settling  up  his  aifairs 
he  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Charleston,  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Saint  Finnbar,  by  the  Right  Rev.  John  Mur- 
phy, Bishop  of  Cork,  assisted  by  the  Right  Rev. 
Kieran  Marum,  Bishop  of  Ossory,  and  Right  Rev. 
Patrick  Kelly,  Bishop  of  Riciimond,  on  the  21st  of 
September,  1820,  Archbishop  Everard,  Bishops  Cop- 
pinger,  Sughrue,  and  Tuohy,  being  also  present,^  The 
other  bishops  consecrated  for  the  United  States  had  at 
the  time  of  consecration  taken  a  special  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  the  King  of  England.  But  the  Bishop-elect 
of  Charleston  had  declared  that  he  would  seek  conse- 
cration elsewhere  rather  than  take  such  an  oath,  as  he 
went  to  the  United  States  determined  to  become  a 
citizen  of  that  Republic  as  soon  as  the  laws  would 
permit  him.^ 

The  next  day  he  gave  minor  orders  and  subdeacon- 
ship  to  Denis  Corkery  and  Timothy  McCarthy,  two 
ecclesiastics  whom  he  had  accepted  for  his  diocese. 
His  first  episcopal  function  he  performed  in  the  chapel 
of  the  Presentation  Convent,  of  which  his  sister  Mary 
was  Superior,  and  he  conferred  the  order  of  priesthood 
on  the  two  candidates  in  the  chapel  of  the  Ursulines 
on  the  24th.  After  sending  to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese 
a  temporary  renewal  of  their  faculties,  he  set  out  for 
Belfast,  bidding  adieu  on  the  way  to  his  widowed 
mother.  After  a  visit  to  Cariow  College,  where  the 
students  presented  an  address  to  the  first  alumnus  of 
the  institution  raised  to  the  episcopate,  he  embarked 
on  the  22d  of  October  on  the  ship  Thomas  Gelston. 
He  was  accompanied  by  his  sister  Johanna,  who  gave 

'  Certificate  of  Consecration,  Bishop  England's  Works,  iv.,  p.  232 
'^  W.  G.  Read's  sketch  of  Bishop  England. 


310       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

all  her  little  fortune  to  his  diocese,  and  by  his  newly- 
ordained  priest,  Rev.  Denis  Corkery.  After  a  stormy 
voyage  he  landed  at  Charleston  on  the  30th  day  of 
December,^  and  presented  his  bulls  and  certificate  of 
consecration  to  Very  Rev.  Benedict  J.  Fenwick,  who 
thereupon  resigned  the  diocese  into  his  hands.  Bishop 
England  at  once  appointed  him  Vicar-General  and 
gave  faculties  to  Rev.  Messrs.  Gallagher,  Browne,  and 
Corkery.  The  next  day,  being  Sunday,  he  took  pos- 
session of  the  church  and  published  his  bulls.  Learn- 
ing that  the  church  at  Savannah  had  been  abandoned, 
and  that  of  Augusta  greatly  injured  by  the  apostacy 
and  marriage  of  an  unworthy  priest,  he  issued  a  jias- 
toral  letter  to  his  flock  and  prepared  to  visit  those 
churches.  In  his  pastoral  he  dwelt  on  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Church  by  our  Lord,  and  on  the  authority 
established  in  it  which  all  were  required  to  obey.^  He 
commissioned  Father  Fenwick  to  exercise  authority  in 
his  absence,  to  hire  a  building  for  a  second  temporary 
church,  and,  if  possible,  to  purchase  a  site  for  a 
cathedral  in  a  good  part  of  the  city.  He  then  j^ro- 
ceeded  to  Savannah  with  Rev.  Robert  Browne.  The 
church  on  Liberty  Square  he  found  fairly  supplied 
with  vestments  and  plate,  as  well  as  p>ossessed  of  some 
property  giving  a  small  income.  After  celebrating 
mass,  bajDtizing,  and  hearing  confessions  for  several 
days,  he  arranged  with  the  trustees  the  salary  to  be 
paid  to  the  priest  whom  he  promised  them.  He  urged 
the  Catholics  of  Savannah  to  take  steps  to  erect  a  new 
and  more  worthy  church.  On  Sunday  he  officiated 
and  preached,  explaining  his  appointment  to  the  new 

'  Bishop  England's  Diary.     Bishop  England  to  Archbishop  Marechal, 
Jan.  2,  1821. 

«  Pastoral,  Jan.  21,  1821.     Works,  iv.,  p.  232. 


VISITATION.  311 

see,  and  apx)ointed  Rev.  Robert  Browne  their  pastor. 
He  proceeded  thence  to  Augusta,  where  Rev.  Samuel 
S.  Cooper  was  temporarily  laboring  earnestly  to  re- 
pair the  mischiefs  which  had  been  done  the  Catholic 
body.  He  found  the  church  in  order,  renewed  the 
appointment  of  Rev.  Mr.  Cooper,  and  administered 
confirmation  to  49  persons.  His  next  visit  was  to  the 
old  Catholic  settlement  at  Locust  Grove,  where  the 
Thompson  family  had  kept  the  faith  alive.  The  little 
church,  capable  of  containing  sixty  or  seventy,  was 
decently  supplied.  Bishop  England  spent  some  days 
at  this  interesting  spot,  administering  the  sacraments 
and  preaching.^ 

Leaving  Georgia,  after  visiting  Warren  and  Wilkes 
Counties,  Bishop  England  then  jDroceeded  to  Columbia, 
the  capital  of  South  Carolina.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Wallace 
was  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  college,  and 
though  without  any  charge  officiated  for  the  small 
bodj^  of  Catholics  there.  After  conferring  with  him, 
the  Bishop  met  the  principal  members  of  the  congre- 
gation and  urged  them  to  undertake  the  erection  of  a 
church.  He  officiated  for  them,  appointed  persons 
here  and  elsewhere  to  read  prayers  in  the  absence  of 
the  priest  and  teach  catechism.  At  the  request  of  the 
college  students  he  preached  in  their  chapel,  and  sub- 
sequently in  the  Court  House.  From  his  visitation  he 
estimated  the  communicants  at  375.^ 

On  his  return  to  Charleston,  weakened  by  a  severe, 
attack  of  rheumatism  which  had  prostrated  him  dur- 
ing this  apostolic  excursion.  Bishop  England  resumed, 
his  duties.     One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  send  Rev.. 

'  Diary,  Letter  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Mar.  6, 1831. 

*  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  iv.,  p.  300.  Bishop  England  to  EtoDk 
W.  Gaston,  May  17,  1821. 


312       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Denis  Corkeiy  to  reside  at  Columbia,  organize  the 
church  there,  and  attend  Chester  and  Locust  Grove. 
He  labored  incessantly  at  Charleston,  issued  a  Lenten 
pastoral,  gave  a  series  of  lectures  on  the  Church,  drew 
up  and  issued  a  catechism,  and  prej^ared  a  class  for 
confirmation.  When  Easter  arrived  he  had  confirmed 
180  in  that  city. 

His  visitation  had  shown  him  the  dangers  of  the 
mode  in  which  the  Church  property  was  held,  and  he 
felt  the  necessity  of  having  a  cathedral  free  from  such 
influences.  He  secured  Vauxhall  Gardens,  on  Broad 
and  Friend  Streets,  a  very  fine  plot,  eligibly  situated 
in  one  of  the  best  parts  of  Charleston,  on  which  he 
purposed  erecting  a  cathedral. 

The  Bishop  could  retain  Rev,  Father  Fenwick  only 
temporarily,  and  Rev,  Mr.  Cooper  wished  to  return  to 
the  North,  As  the  Catholics  at  Columbia  showed  no 
inclination  to  support  Rev,  Mr,  Corkery,  Bishop  Eng- 
land sent  him  to  Augusta.  He  then  set  out  to  ascer- 
tain the  condition  of  Catholicity  in  North  Carolina, 
the  third  of  the  States  comprised  in  his  diocese,  afford 
his  flock  an  opportunity  to  receive  the  sacraments, 
and  organize  them  into  congregations,  so  that  even 
when  there  Avas  no  clergyman,  they  might  assemble 
together  on  the  Lord's  day,  have  appropriate  prayers 
read  by  some  j)erson  duly  appointed,  who  could  also 
teach  catechism  and  read  some  book  of  instruction. 
Stopping  at  the  Santee  River  to  minister  to  a  few 
Catholics,  he  baptized  and  confirmed.  On  the  15th  of 
May  he  was  in  Wilmington.  No  Catholic  priest  had 
ever  resided  there,  but  the  Bishop  ascertained  that  a 
Rev.  Mr.  Burke  had  spent  a  fortnight  in  the  town 
about  twenty-five  years  before,  and  that  a  Jesuit 
Father,  going  to  some  Spanish  settlement,  remained 
two  or  three  days  in  the  town  about  the  year  1815, 


VISITATION.  313 

and  baptized  some  children  there. ^  The  Bishop  col- 
lected the  faithful,  began  a  series  of  instructions  to 
them,  iDi-eached  by  invitation  to  Protestants,  whose 
good  will  he  won.  He  animated  the  Catholics  to 
erect  a  church,  promising  to  have  them  regularly  vis- 
ited. So  effective  was  his  appeal  that  $1160  was  sub- 
scribed for  the  proposed  edihce.  The  faithful  enjoj^ed 
for  a  brief  period  the  happiness  of  hearing  mass  and 
being  able  to  approach  the  sacraments.  Instructions 
were  given,  children  baptized,  many  reclaimed,  and 
even  converts  received.  But  he  found  several  Catho- 
lics who  had  joined  Protestant  churches,  and  who  had 
apparently  been  irrecoverably  lost  to  the  Church. 

After  a  short  stay  at  Washington  he  reached 
New  Berne,  to  be  welcomed  by  the  zealous  Catholic, 
Hon.  William  Gaston.  The  high  social  and  profes- 
sional position  of  this  gentleman,  his  remarkable 
ability  shown  at  the  bar,  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  and 
on  the  bench,  gave  him  a  great  influence  in  his  native 
State.  His  very  example  was  a  support  to  his  fellow- 
believers.  Between  him  and  Bishop  England  a  strong 
friendship  was  formed,  and  the  prelate  always  found 
in  Judge  Gaston  a  wise  and  safe  counsellor. 

Bishop  England  found  at  New  Berne  about  twenty 
Catholics  who  had  not  seen  a  priest  since  the  previous 
November,  when  Rev.  Nicholas  Kerney  of  Norfolk 
visited  them.  The  Bishop  entered  on  his  usual 
course  of  missionary  duty,  which  lasted  ten  days.^ 
Washington,  another  station  still  bearing  marks  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Kerney' s  zeal,  was  his  next  station,  and 
gradually  so  many  Catholics  came  forward  that  he 
urged  them  to  organize  and  build  a  church,  hoping 

*  Bishop  England's  Diary. 

2  Diary,  May  24,  June  4,  1821. 


314        THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

before  long  to  have  tliem  regularly  attended.  A  Rev. 
Mr.  Mason  was  misrepresenting  Catholic  doctrines, 
and  Bishop  England  lectured  to  present  them  truly. 
At  this  place  he  began  by  treating  of  natural  religion, 
leading  the  way  up  to  revealed  religion  and  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Church.  Here  he  received  three  con- 
verts who  had  already  been  attracted  toward  Catho- 
licity. At  Plymouth  he  had  heard  of  but  one 
Catholic,  Dr.  Picot,  but  when  he  arrived  and  began 
his  lectures,  a  young  Scotchman  declared  that  he  had 
always  been  a  true  son  of  the  "auld"  Church.  After 
visiting  Elizabeth,  he  accepted  an  invitation  from 
Bishop  Kelly,  who  had  assisted  at  his  consecration, 
to  visit  him  in  Norfolk. 

He  then  returned  by  Avay  of  Murfreesborough,  Hali- 
fax, and  Warrenton  to  Raleigh,  finding  few  Catholics 
by  the  way.  At  the  capital  he  baptized  thirteen  and 
supplied  the  ceremonies  for  others  who  had  been  pri- 
vately baptized.  He  confirmed  eight,  and  gathered  a 
little  flock  of  thirty-three,  arranging,  as  usual,  for 
their  meeting  for  prayer  and  instruction  on  Sundays. 
It  was  a  beginning  which  he  trusted  God  Avould 
enable  him  to  follow  up.  Besides  attending  to  the 
Catholics,  Bishop  England  preached  in  the  Presby- 
terian Church  to  a  large  congregation,  the  governor  of 
the  State  being  among  his  audience.  At  Fayetteville 
he  went  through  the  same  course  of  missionarj^  duty.^ 

By  this  time  his  health  was  beginning  to  suffer,  and 
he  resolved  to  visit  the  North,  with  several  objects 
in  view.  On  reaching  Norfolk  again,  August  18, 
he  was  prostrated  by  a  dangerous  fever,  and  on  his 
recovery  proceeded  to  Baltimore  to  visit  his  Metro- 
politan, Most  Rev.  Dr.  Marechal.     He  then  made  the 


1  Diary  :  Letters  to  Hon.  Wm.  Gaston,  June  6,  20,  July  29,  1821 
to  Archbishop  Marechal,  July  6,  18  ;  Aug.  9,  1821. 


DANGEROUS  ILLNESS.  315 

attempt  already  described  to  draw  Rev.  William 
Hogan  from  Philadelphia,  but  his  charitable  j)lan  was 
defeated  by  the  trustees. 

Amid  all  his  missionary  and  episcojDal  labors  Bishop 
England  had  worked  diligently  iDreparing  a  new  edi- 
tion of  the  missal  in  English  with  a  very  clear  explana- 
tion of  the  mass  ;  and  his  visit  to  the  North  was  in 
part  to  arrange  for  its  publication. 

He  finally  returned  southward  by  way  of  Baltimore, 
Washington,  and  Georgetown,  warmly  received  by  all. 
Catholic  and  Protestant.  He  was,  however,  brought 
to  the  verge  of  eternity  at  Georgetown,  both  the  doc- 
tor and  himself  several  times  regarding  death  as  in- 
evitable.^ Before  he  reached  the  northern  part  of  his 
diocese,  however,  he  received  the  sad  intelligence  of 
the  death  of  the  Rev.  Denis  Corkery.  At  Edenton, 
on  the  lOtli  of  November,  he  resumed  his  labors,  which 
he  renewed  also  at  Washington,  New  Berne,  and  AVil- 
mington,  suffering  greatly  from  fever  on  the  way. 
Fortunately,  the  Rev.  A.  O'Hannan,  a  priest  whom 
he  had  received  for  his  diocese,  joined  him,  and  he 
was  thus  able  to  reach  Charleston  on  the  4th  of 
December. 

Bishop  England  had  traversed  the  three  States  form- 
ing his  diocese,  visited  every  j)lace  where  a  congrega- 
tion had  been  formed,  and  some  where  no  priest 
apparently  had  ever  labored.  He  had  met  his  metro- 
politan and  three  bishops  of  the  province  in  their  re- 
spective sees,  and  could  form  a  general  idea  of  the 
condition  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States.  The 
wants  of  his  own  diocese  were  aj)parent.  A  few  Catho- 
lics in  petty  bodies,  scattered  over  three  large  States, 
many  losing  their  faith  by  neglect  and  sinking  into 

1  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  W.  Gaston,  Dec.  8,  1821. 


316  ♦    THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

indifference  ;  priests  few,  and  no  certain  means  of  pro- 
viding for  a  supply  to  the  different  stations,  where 
they  were  imperatively  needed.  The  able  Father  Fen- 
wick  was  about  to  be  recalled  ;  ^  Rev.  S.  S.  Cooper  had 
asked  not  to  return  ;  Corkery  was  dead  ;^  O'Hannan 
and  Tuomy,  whom  he  had  received  into  his  diocese, 
soon  left  him.  Gallagher  and  Browne  had  succeeded 
in  their  schemes  at  Rome,  but  they  had  not  expected 
a  bishop  of  the  stamp  of  Dr.  England,  who  soon  saw 
their  real  character,  but  acted  with  singular  prudence 
and  caution.  Gallagher  would  do  no  real  duty,  but 
was  importunate  in  his  demands  for  money,  wringing 
a  large  salary  from  the  Bishop  till  he  at  last  asked  for 
his  Exeat ;  ^  and  Browne,  wearied  of  laboring  under 
the  eye  of  a  vigilant  bishop,  asked  to  be  relieved  on 
the  score  of  illness,  and  calling  his  friends  together 
went  off  with  a  series  of  laudatory  resolutions.* 

To  meet  and  remove  the  ignorance  prevailing  among 
Catholics  as  to  the  doctrines  of  their  religion  and  their 
duties.  Bishop  England  had  organized  a  Book  Society, 
and  endeavored  to  establish  a  branch  of  it  in  every 
congregation.  He  found  it  difficult,  however,  to  arouse 
interest  in  the  society  or  create  a  taste  for  Catholic 
reading.  He  was  not  discouraged,  and  in  December, 
1822,  obtained  an  act  incorporating  it.  In  order  to 
afford  Catholics  throughout  the  country  a  vehicle  of 

'  He  left  Cliarleston,  May  19,  1833.  A  meeting  was  held  to  express 
the  regret  of  the  Catholic  body,  and  a  letter  of  the  Bishop,  dated  May 
23d,  accompanied  the  resolutions.     U.  S.  Cath.  Miscell. 

*  The  inscription  on  the  monument  to  this  good  priest  is  given  in  U.  S. 
Cath.  Mis.,iv.,p.  319. 

3 Bishop  England's  Diary.  "Your  two  old  friends,  Gallagher  and 
Browne,  are  the  most  useless  pair  that  were  ever  upon  a  mission.'* 
Bishop  England  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Dec.  22,  1832. 

*  Truth  Teller,  July  30,  Oct.  8,  1825  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Mis.,  v.,  p.  31. 


U.  S.  CATHOLIC  MISCELLANY.  317 

communication,  and  a  means  of  learning  the  state  of 
their  brethren  at  home  and  abroad,  as  well  as  of  remov- 
ing false  impressions  and  erroneous  ideas  from  the 
minds  of  their  neighbors  in  regard  to  their  faith  and 
practice,  Bishop  England  founded  on  June  5,  1822, 
"The  United  States  Catholic  Miscellany,"  the  first 
Catholic  newspaper  published  in  the  United  States. 
"The  princiiDles  of  the  publication,"  says  the  prospec- 
tus, issued  in  March,  "will  be  candor,  moderation, 
fidelity,  charity,  and  diligence."  This  periodical,  of 
course,  small  as  it  was,  required  money  far  beyond  its 
receipts,  and  before  the  end  of  the  first  year  was  sus- 
pended. The  Bishop  was  too  courageous  to  be  easily 
disheartened  :  he  revived  it  in  a  few  months,  and  the 
paper  continued  to  render  service  to  the  cause  of 
Catholicity  and  truth  till  the  Civil  War.^ 

The  original  church  in  Hasell  Street  w^as  held  by  a 
vestry  or  board  of  trustees  under  a  charter  which 
gave  them  powers  utterly  repugnant  to  the  discipline 
of  the  Church.  Bishop  England  endeavored  to  per- 
suade the  congregation  to  apply  for  an  amendment  to 
the  act,  which  would  remove  this"  difficulty.  In  this 
he  was  opposed  by  men,  born  indeed  of  Catholic 
parents,  but  who  had  utterly  lost  the  faith,  as  well  as 
by  some  ignorant  but  not  irreligious  Catholics  whom 
they  misled.  Bishop  England  would  enter  into  no 
contest  with  them  or  yield  a  single  point.  It  is  folly, 
he  wrote,  "to  attempt  raising  the  edifice  of  Catho- 
licity upon  Calvinistic  foundations."  ^  He  saw,  there- 
fore,  the  necessity   of  establishing  his   cathedral  at 

'  Prospectus.    Bishop  England  to  Hon.  W.  Gaston,  Feb.  18,  1832. 

'  ' '  They  have  the  worst  charter  that  it  was  the  misfortune  of  a  church 
to  be  cursed  with,  contradicting  the' canon  law  in  about  twelve  points 
out  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  which  it  embraces ;  nor  is  it  a  dead  letter." 
Bishop  England  to  Hon.  W.  Gaston,  Jan.  9,  1823. 


318  ,    THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  earliest  moment.  On  the  Yauxhall  proi^erty  on 
Broad  Street  was  a  building  in  which  the  Bishop,  on 
the  SOtli  of  December,  1821,  blessed  the  hall  and  one 
room  for  a  temporary  chapel  under  the  invocation  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  Mother  of  God,  Saint 
Matthew  the  Apostle,  and  Saint  Finnbar.  Mass  was 
celebrated  by  Rev.  John  Tuomy,  and  the  Bishop 
preached. 

The  rest  of  the  building  he  adapted  for  a  literary 
institution,  from  the  profits  of  which  he  hoped  to  pay 
for  the  place,  and  aid  in  erecting  a  cathedral  and  dio- 
cesan seminary.  It  was  opened  on  the  8th  of  January, 
1822,  under  the  name  of  "The  Philosophical  and 
Classical  Seminary  of  Charleston."  This  institution 
at  once  became  popular,  with  about  twelve  Catholic 
and  fifty-one  non- Catholic  j^upils,  there  being  at  the 
time  no  similar  academy  in  the  city,  the  college  having 
closed  for  want  of  support. 

Bishop  England  was  not  only  president,  but  teacher, 
compelled  frequently  to  attend  to  almost  all  the 
classes,  though  gradually  he  was  assisted  by  some 
candidates  for  orders  whom  he  found  extremely  well 
qualified  to  communicate  knowledge  by  teaching. 
The  progress  of  the  pupils,  as  shown  at  their  exami- 
nations, gave  the  seminary  a  high  and  well  deserved 
rej)utation.  Suddenly  the  Protestant  denominational 
papers  began  to  attack  the  institution,  and  to  urge 
parents  not  to  send  their  sons  to  a  school  where  they 
were  likely  to  be  weaned  from  their  religion.  A 
movement  was  undertaken  to  revive  the  college  ;  the 
State  made  a  grant  of  lands,  wealthy  persons  went 
from  door  to  door  to  collect  means  to  erect  the  neces- 
sary buildings.  The  result  was  disastrous  to  Bishop 
England's  seminary,  which  saw  its  roll  of  pupils 
dwindle  from  one  hundred  and  thirty  to  thirty.     He 


A  PRO-CATHEDRAL. 


319 


maintained   it,    however,    and  its   pupils   took    high 
honors  in  the  State  College  at  Columbia.^ 

Soon  after  opening  his  seminar}^  he  put  up  near  it  a 
temporary  wooden  chaxDel,  eighty  feet  long  by  forty- 
eight  wide.  It  was  blessed  on  the  19th  of  Mux, 
under  the  invocation  of  Saint  Finnbar  and  under  the 
l^atronage  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  and  the  Holy 
Apostles  and  Evangelists,  Saint  Matthew  and  Saint 
John.  This  was  the  pro-cathedral  of  the  diocese  of 
Charleston,  where  the  Bishop  was  free  from  a  con- 
stant struggle  with  vestrymen  and  trustees  to  j)reserve 


SEAL   OF   BISHOP   ENGLAND,    OF   CHARLESTON. 

inviolate  the  discipline  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Bishop  England  was  strongly  opj^osed  to  the  system 
of  hiring  out  pews  and  seats  in  churches,  and  would 
gladly  have  suppressed  it  entirely.  The  fraudulent 
trustee  system  based  upon  it  w^as  in  his  eyes  only  one 
of  the  many  evils  connected  with  the  letting  of  pews. 
As  for  churches  to  be  subsequently  established  he  for- 
bade any  priest  to  officiate  therein  unless  a  deed  to 
the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  was  first  executed. 

'  England,  "  A  Brief  account  of  the  Introduction  of  the  Catholic  Re- 
ligion," etc.,  p.  301.  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  William  Gaston,  Sept.  21, 
1822,  Dec.  18,  1824. 


f 

320       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

In  September  a  hurricane  swept  over  Charleston, 
and  among  other  edifices  injured  was  the  church  in 
Hasell  Street.  The  vestry  could  oppose  Bishop  Eng- 
land, as  they  had  opposed  every  good  priest  sent  there, 
but  their  exchequer  was  empty,  and  not  one  of  the  loud- 
mouthed gentlemen  was  able  or  willing  to  advance 
money  for  the  Church.  Bishop  England,  from  his 
scanty  income,  partly  arising  from  his  labors  in  the 
seminary,  was  com2:)elled  to  pay  $400  to  make  the  old 
church  suitable  for  the  continuance  of  the  services  of 
the  Church. 

In  December  he  went  to  Columbia  in  order  to  set  on 
foot  a  movement  for  the  erection  of  a  church,  but  he 
found  a  party  formed  against  him  by  emissaries  from 
Charleston,  and  encountered  such  difficulty  in  secur- 
ing a  suitable  site  that  he  deferred  the  whole  matter. 
He  found  petitions  before  the  Legislature  against  his 
amendments  of  the  charter  of  the  old  church  in 
Charleston,  emanating  from  the  same  source. 

In  a  visitation  extending  to  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  he  was  rejoiced  to  find  a  good  and  active 
spirit  at  Locust  Grove,  where  a  new  church  had  been 
erected  by  the  zeal  of  Rev.  Mr.  O'Donoghue. 

Bishop  England  had  already  three  States  under  his 
jurisdiction,  but  in  March,  1843,  he  was  appealed  to 
by  Bishop  Dii  Bourg  of  Louisiana  and  the  Flori- 
das  to  take  charge  of  East  Florida.  Spain  had  in 
1820  ceded  her  ancient' province  to  the  United  States, 
giving  possession  the  next  year,  and  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Christopher  of  Havana  had  at  an  early  day  (July, 
1822)  written  to  the  Bishop  of  Charleston,  asking  him 
as  the  nearest  bishop  to  take  charge  of  East  Florida.^ 
The  Bishop  of  Havana,  however,  really  had  no  juris- 

'  Bishop  England  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Feb.  5,  1823.    April  11, 
1824. 


FLORIDA.  321 

diction  over  Florida,  which  was  part  of  the  Diocese  of 
Louisiana  and  the  Floridas,  created  in  1793,  and  of 
which  Rt.  Rev.  William  L.  Dii  Bourg,  successor  of 
Bishop  Penalver,  was  now  bishop.  On  receiving 
powers  of  Vicar- General  from  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  Dr. 
England  had  canonical  authority  to  act.  The  church 
at  St.  Augustine  was  vacant,  Rev.  Michael  Crosby, 
parish  priest,  having  died,  and  his  curate,  Rev.  John 
N.  Gomez,  who  had  remained  after  the  cession,  hav- 
ing finally  announced  that  his  health  compelled  him 
to  withdraw. 

From  what  information  he  could  gather  Bishop 
England  estimated  the  Catholics  in  west  Florida  at 
1500  or  2000  ;  and  in  the  eastern  part,  three  or  four 
hundred  at  St.  Augustine,  one  hundred  on  St.  John's 
River  ;  with  one  or  two  hundred  fishermen  and  Minor- 
cans  on  Amelia  Island.  Pensacola  had  also  a  good 
Catholic  population. 

Bishop  England's  visitations  in  the  spring  of  1823 
extended  to  North  Carolina,  where  we  find  him  in  May 
obtaining  a  lot  for  a  church  as  a  gift  from  Mr.  Leroy, 
making  plans  for  the  building,  starting  a  subscription, 
and  engaging  a  builder.  At  New  Berne  he  found 
reason  for  consolation,  but  at  Washington  almost  all 
trace  of  Catholicity  had  been  obliterated.^  His  plan 
for  this  State  was  to  send  two  priests,  who  would 
co-operate  in  attending  to  all  the  missions,  and  could 
thus  be  supported,  at  least  by  opening  a  school  at 
Washington  or  Fayetteville.  Before  the  close  of 
the  year  he  dispatched  to  North  Carolina  Rev.  F. 
O'Donoghue. 

Bishop  England  regretted  greatly  that  no  Provincial 
Council  had  ever  been  held  in  the  United  States,  and 

'  Bishop  England's  Diary.  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  W.  Gaston,  Oct. 
12.  Dec.  2, 1823. 


322      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

that  uniform  action  had  not  been  adopted  by  meetings 
of  the  bishops  in  an  informal  way.  Each  bishop  Avas 
left  to  devise  and  i^lan  for  his  own  diocese.  His  ex- 
perience in  the  United  States  led  him  to  regard  it  as 
most  important  to  effect  such  organizations  as  would 
secure  acts  of  incorporation  from  the  State.  After 
long  study  and  deliberation  he  drew  up  ' '  The  Consti- 
tution of  the  Roman  Catholic  Churches  of  the  States  of 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia  ;  which 
are  comprised  in  the  Diocese  of  Charleston,  and 
Province  of  Baltimore,  U.  S.  A."  ^  The  object  of  its 
formation  was  to  lay  down  the  general  principles  of 
the  law  of  the  Catholic  Church,  "and  to  show  their 
special  bearing  in  the  most  usual  cases ;  and  then 
upon  the  mode  of  raising,  vesting,  and  managing 
church  property,  to  fix  the  special  manner  in  which 
the  great  principles  that  are  recognized  by  the  Church 
should  be  carried  into  i)ractice.  This  was  done  by 
consultation,  discussion,  and  arrangement  between  the 
Bishop,  the  clergy,  and  the  laity  in  several  meetings  in 
the  several  districts,  and  the  outline  of  the  entire  con- 
stitution, together  with  some  of  the  most  important  of 
its  special  x>i'0 visions,  was  laid  before  the  Holy  See, 
after  it  had  been  adopted,  on  the  25th  of  September, 
1822."  This  constitution,  peculiar  in  itself,  began  by 
a  statement  of  doctrine,  embracing  the  Creed  of  Pope 
Pius  IV.  It  recognized  the  Bishop,  his  authority  to 
make  parishes  or  districts,  and  to  aijpoint  pastors  ;  and 
the  authority  of  a  Vicar-General  in  his  absence  or  dur- 
ing the  vacancy  of  the  see.  The  faithful  disavoAved  and 
disclaimed  any  right  or  power,  under  any  pretext,  in 
the  laity  to  subject  the  ministry  of  the  Church  to  their 
control,  or  to  interfere  in  the  regulation  of  its  sacred 

I  13mo.     Charleston,  2d  edition,  1840  ;  Works,  v.,  p.  91. 


HIS  CONSTITUTIONS.  323 

duty.  They  acknowledged  that  the  right  and  power 
of  appointing  clergymen  to  the  different  districts  be- 
longed to  the  Bisliop  ;  that  the  power  of  suspending 
or  withdrawing  faculties  was  vested  in  the  Bishop, 
and  that  no  priest  was  to  be  recognized  as  such  whose 
powers  were  thus  recalled.  No  vestry  was  to  have 
power  to  sell,  encumber,  build,  or  rebuild  any  church 
without  the  consent  of  the  Bishop,  nor  could  church 
rates  or  burial  fees  be  fixed  excej)t  with  similar  ap- 
proval. Money  was  to  be  raised  specifically  for  the 
support  of  priests  in  parochial  districts  and  to  be  jDaid 
to  them.  Every  member  was  to  pay  fifty  cents  quar- 
terly for  the  general  fund  of  the  diocese,  which  was 
for  the  erection  and  maintenance  of  the  cathedral,  the 
education  of  candidates  for  the  priesthood,  the  sup- 
port of  missionaries  and  churches  in  poor  portions  of 
the  diocese,  to  create  a  fund  for  infirm  priests  and  for 
diocesan  institutions.  Diocesan  proj)erty  was  to  be 
held  by  "  The  General  Trustees  of  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  of  the  Diocese  of  Charleston,"  the  board 
consisting  of  the  Bishop,  Vicar- General,  with  five 
priests  and  twelve  laymen,  to  be  chosen  by  the  lay- 
men at  an  annual  convention.  Members  lost  their 
rights  by  defection  from  the  doctrines  of  the  Church, 
by  opposition  to  its  discipline,  by  encouraging  any 
unauthorized  clergymen,  by  being  canonically  cen- 
sured, or  by  refusing  to  pay  regular  contributions. 

There  was  to  be  an  annual  convention  of  the  Bishop 
and  clergy,  with  lay  delegates  from  the  districts, 
chosen  by  the  vestries  ;  the  powers  of  the  convention 
were  strictly  limited  to  matters  regarding  the  general 
fund  and  its  expenditures. 

Bishop  England  evidently  aimed  to  avoid  troubles 
such  as  had  arisen  in  Philadelphia,  and  to  a  minor 
degree  elsewhere.     With  this  constitution,  recognized 


324       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

by  the  State,  points  raised  in  other  States  could  not 
be  put  forward  in  South  Carolina. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1824  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  incorporated  "The  General  Trustees  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  of  South  Carolina,"  "Tlie 
Vestry  and  Members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Cathedral 
Church  of  Saint  Finnbar,  in  the  City  of  Charleston," 
"The  Vestry  and  Members  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  of  St.  Peter  in  Columbia,"  "  The  Members  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  Georgetown."  ^ 

The  clergy  of  the  diocese  of  Charleston  at  this 
time  comprised  the  Bishop,  Right  Rev.  John  Eng- 
land, D.D.,  Rev.  John  McEncroe,  Rev.  Edward 
Swiney,  Avho  had  charge  also  of  Augusta,  Ga. ;  Rev. 
Timothy  McCarthy  and  Rev.  John  Birmingham  in 
South  Carolina ;  Rev.  Robert  Browne  at  Savannah, 
Ga.;  Rev.  Patrick  0' Sullivan  at  the  Purification  of 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  Locust  Grove,  Ga. ;  Rev.  Francis 
O'Donoghue,  who  had  just  commenced  a  church  at 
AVashington,  N.  C,  and  Rev.  Francis  Boland,  a  priest 
recently  arrived,  whom  the  Bishop  sent  to  the  deserted 
church  of  St.  Augustine,  where  he  remained  till  the 
early  part  of  the  year  1825. 

The  Bishop  soon  after,  in  February,  1824,  organized 
the  congregations  at  Fayetteville  and  New  Berne, 
N.  C.  During  the  year,  Charleston  was  again  visited 
by  yellow  fever,  and  Bishop  England  found  his  labors 
so  incessant  and  wearing  that  he  wrote  to  Judge  Gas- 
ton.: "I  have  often  through  weariness  fallen  asleep 
on  the  ground,  in  the  midst  of  my  office.  Yet,  thank 
God,  I  never  enjoyed  better  health." 

A  Constitution  for  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of 
South  Carolina  was  also  prepared,  which  was  adopted 

'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  ii.,  p.  16. 


PROSELYTISM.  325 

September  25,  1823,  and  a  convention  was  held  under 
it  on  the  24th  of  November,  in  the  Cathedral,  Charles- 
ton. During  its  sessions  a  solemn  requiem  was  offered 
for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  Pope  Pius  VII. 

Bishop  England  then  proceeded  to  Savannah,  where 
he  met  delegates  of  the  Catholic  body,  and  submitted 
a  similar  constitution  for  the  State  of  Georgia,  which 
was  adopted  on  the  15th  of  March,  His  visitation 
through  that  State  kept  alive  the  active  zeal  of  the 
Catholic  body,  as  the  enlarging  of  the  church  at 
Augusta  and  an  endowment  at  Locust  Grove  attested.' 
At  Georgetown,  South  Carolina,  also,  a  large  and 
convenient  lot  was  secured  for  a  church ;  the  same 
was  done  soon  after  at  New  Berne. ^ 

As  we  have  seen,  Bishoj)  England,  finding  his  flock 
small,  and  scattered  through  a  Protestant  population, 
made  every  effort  to  adapt  what  was  possible  to  the 
usages  of  the  country.  He  celebrated  the  fourth  of 
March,  1825,  by  solemn  services  at  Charleston,  for 
the  successful  administration  of  the  incoming  Presi- 
dent, John  Quincy  Adams.  How  little  influence  all 
this  effort  at  co-nciliation  on  his  part  had,  however, 
was  seen  in  the  treatment  of  the  Catholic  inmates  in 
the  Orphan  House  at  Charleston.  When  the  Bishop, 
in  June,  1825,  in  most  courteous  terms  showed  the 
injustice  of  compelling  these  fatherless  children  to 
receive  religious  instruction  of  a  Protestant  character 
from  Protestants,  and  asked  the  Commissions  to 
regulate  that  the  children  of  Roman  Catholic  parents 
should  receive  their  religious  instruction  only  from 


'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  ii.,  pp.  16,  252 ;  as  to  Rev.  Mr.  Boland  at  St. 
Augustine,  iv.,  pp.  112,  367 ;  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  W.  Gaston,  Oct. 
13,  1824. 

^U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  p.  335  ;  iii.,  p.  43. 


326       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

duly  authorized  Roman  Catholics,  his  application 
was  rejected.^ 

Yet  there  Avere-  some  actuated  by  more  generous 
principles.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Stokes  was  encouraged  to 
begin  a  church  at  Camden,  and  pushed  his  missions 
to  the  western  frontiers  of  the  State.  The  Council  of 
Cheraw  appropriated  a  lot  for  the  erection  of  a  Cath- 
olic church,  and  the  same  was  done  by  the  Land 
Commissioners  at  Charlotte,  in  North  Carolina.  Two 
churches  Avere  also  projected  in  Laurens  District, 
S.  C.^  As  the  priests  of  the  diocese  pushed  their 
journeys  into  the  upper  i)ortions  of  South  Carolina 
and  the  other  States  in  the  diocese,  they  found  a  far 
larger  number  of  scattered  Catholics  than  had  been 
supposed.'  Many  desired  to  be  organized,  so  as  to 
enjoy  the  consolations  of  religion,  but  Bishop  Eng- 
land had  still  too  few  priests  to  meet  all  the  wants. 

During  the  winter  of  1825-6,  Bishop  England  vis- 
ited Baltimore,  and  at  Washington  was  invited  to 
address  the  members  of  Congress  in  the  hall  of  the 
representatives.  He  complied,  and  preached  on  Sun- 
day, January  8,  a  discourse  which  was  subsequently 
printed.*  Writing  to  Judge  Gaston,  he  said  :  "  With- 
out seeking  the  occasion,  or  feeling  myself  upon  the 
topics  until  I  had  gone  too  far  to  recede,  and  then, 
and  onlj^  then,  my  eye  rested  upon  Mr.  Adams,  and 
there  came  to  my  mind  that  Fourth  of  July  oration  in 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  Iv.,  pp.  398-9. 

^Ib.,  v.,  pp.  224,  271,  304. 

^  At  Lancaster,  Rev.  Mr.  Stokes  found  a  Catholic  family  who  had  not 
seen  a  priest  for  forty  years  ;  lb.,  vi.,  p.  302. 

■•  The  substance  of  a  discourse  preached  in  tlie  liall  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  etc.  8vo,  Baltimore,  1826  ;  Bishop  England's  works, 
iv.,  p.  172.     Bisliop  England  to  Hon.  W.  Ga.ston,  Jan.  29,  1826. 


THE  JUBILEE.  327 

which  he  so  unkindly  assailed  ns  four  years  since. 
Then  I,  as  coolly  and  as  firmly  as  I  could,  did  my 
utmost." 

He  opened  the  exercises  of  the  jubilee  in  his  Cathe- 
dral in  November,  1826,  and  the  same  day  ordained 
two  priests,  and  gave  the  tonsure  to  three  candidates 
for  orders,  one  William  Blain,  the  first  Carolinian 
aspirant  to  the  priesthood/ 

The  work  on  the  canal  between  the  Ogeechee  and 
Savannah  drew  many  Catholic  laborers  for  a  time  into 
that  part  of  Georgia,  and  Bishop  England  visited 
Savannah  to  give  the  exercises  of  the  Jubilee,  in  the 
church  at  that  city.  It  was  in  1827  placed  under  the 
charge  of  Rev.  Patrick  O' Sullivan,  Rev.  Mr.  Boland 
having  left  the  diocese.  The  Bishop  on  his  visits 
reached  St.  Simon  and  other  islands,  where  in  the  old 
Spanish  days  the  friars  of  St.  Francis  gathered  their 
Indian  converts  in  well-ordered  settlements.  Yet 
with  all  his  struggles  and  efforts  there  were  but  three 
organized  congregations  and  as  many  resident  Catho- 
lic clergymen  in  Georgia  in  1827.^^ 

The  priest  stationed  at  New  Berne  became  discon- 
tented and  excited  discontent.  He  solicited  his  exeat, 
and  Bishop  England's  only  hope  was  in  the  students 
whom  he  was  preparing  for  holy  orders.  He  wrote  to 
the  faithful  at  New  Berne  :  "You  have  borne  much  ; 
wait  now  but  a  little,  pray  to  God  for  his  aid  to  you 
and  to  me ;  hold  together  in  union  and  affection ; 
meet  in  your  little  church  for  prayer,  and  write  to  me 
occasionally,  and  you  Avill  have  ere  long  your  desires 
and  patience  and  exertions  crowned  w^ith  success."  ^ 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  vi.,  p.  134. 

'^  lb.,  vi.,  pp.  230,  326. 

3  Bishop  England  to  vestry  of  New  Berne,  June  10,  1826. 


328       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  State  became  a  source  of  great  anxiety  to  him, 
so  difficult  did  he  find  it  to  obtain  a  clergyman  who 
would  persevere  in  the  arduous  mission.  South  Caro- 
lina gave  him  more  consolation.  "  The  Catholics  are 
more  adhesive  to  their  church,  and  more  confiding  in 
their  clergy.  The  number  of  practical  Catholics  has 
more  than  doubled,  and  we  have  had  and  continue  to 
receive  several  converts."  ^ 

Bishop  England  labored  earnestly  to  endow  his  dio- 
cese with  a  body  of  zealous  clergy,  but  the  severity  of 
the  labors  and  the  fatal  fevers  deprived  him  of  worthy 
priests.  Rev.  Godfrey  Sheehan  and  Rev.  Martin  Duff 
died.  Rev.  E.  Swiney  and  Rev.  Fr.  O'Donoghue  left 
the  diocese.  The  Bishop  was  called  to  mourn  a  per- 
sonal loss  in  the  death  of  his  sister  Joanna,  who  had 
given  much  to  the  diocese,  and  labored  earnestly  to 
afford  him  the  care  needed  in  his  frequent  fits  of  ill- 
ness, as  well  as  in  all  good  works.  The  expressions 
of  sympathy  at  her  death  attested  the  general  opinion 
of  her  virtues. 

In  1827  an  association  was  formed  to  raise  means  for 
the  payment  of  the  lot  and  the  erection  of  the  cathe- 
dral, as  well  as  for  a  fund  to  maintain  the  Bishop, 
but  the  project  was  only  languidly  taken  up. 

The  next  year  Rev.  Andrew  Byrne,  a  future  Bishop 
of  Little  Rock,  pushed  his  missionary  excursions  to 
Madison  and  other  hitherto  unvisited  parts  of  Georgia, 
and  inspired  a  generous  Catholic,  Mr.  Quigly,  to  give 
land  for  a  church  at  Washington.  The  convention  in 
South  Carolina  was  attended  by  Rev.  John  McEncroe, 
Rev.  John  Barry,  Rev.  John  Magennis,  Rev.  J.  F. 
O'Neill,  with  Rev.  M,  T>.  O'Reilly,  whose  mission  was 
mainly  in  Georgia.     Rev.  John  Bermingham  was  de- 

'  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  W,  Gaston,  June  16,  1827. 


RESULTS.  329 

tained  by  illness  ;  Rev.  Joseph  Stokes  was  absent,  but 
soon  returned  to  take  charge  at  Savannah.  The  con- 
vention at  FayetteviJle,  N.  C,  in  March,  1829,  like  that 
at  Savannah  in  May,  showed  only  priests  laboring  occa- 
sionally in  those  States.  Rev.  Edward  T.  Mayne  from 
Mount  St.  Mary's  College  was  sent  to  St.  Augustine 
and  attended  the  missions  from  that  ancient  city 
northward  to  St.  Mary's,  Georgia. 

This,  after  his  labors  for  years,  was  all  the  result 
that  cheered  Bishop  England  ;  eight  churches,  three 
in  South  Carolina,  three  in  Georgia,  and  two  in  North 
Carolina.  No  help  came  in  jDriests,  religious,  or 
means  from  other  lands.  He  had  removed  scandals, 
aroused  a  spirit  of  faith,  restored  discipline,  and  a 
few  modest  churches  were  rising  in  South  Carolina, 
and  at  Fayetteville  and  Washington  in  North  Caro- 
lina, houses  for  the  worship  of  God  were  dedi- 
cated. Few  bishops  except  Bishop  Flaget  had  made 
such  regular  and  constant  visitations,  but  Dr.  Eng- 
land had  no  such  zealous  secular  or  religious  coadju- 
tors as  Dr.  Flaget  found  in  Kentucky. 

He  had  crushed  almost  entirely  the  vicious  and 
uncatholic  spirit  of  trustees,  though  it  still  lingered 
in  Hasell  Street,  Charleston,  and  in  Columbia  had 
allowed  the  church  to  be  sold  under  a  decree  of 
foreclosure,  when  the  Bishop  from  his  scanty  means 
redeemed  it.^ 


'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscell.,  vii.,  pp.  94-390,  viii.,  pp.  &-318  ;  Annales  de 
la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  iv.,  pp.  301-2.  In  a  report,  "  Stato  della  Religione 
negli  Stati  Uniti,"  presented  to  the  Propaganda,  the  labors  of  Bishop 
England  are  very  slightingly  treated. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

DIOCESE  OF  CINCINNATI. 

ET.  REV.  EDWARD  DOMINIC  FENWICK,  O.S.D., 
FIRST   BISHOP,    1821-1829. 

The  first  shrine  of  catholicity  within  the  limits  of 
the  present  State  of  Ohio  was  the  missionary  chapel 
erected  about  the  year  1751,  by  the  Jesuit  Father 
Armand  de  la  Richardie,  at  Ootsandooske  (where  the 
water  is  pure),  the  Sandusky  of  more  recent  days.  As 
a  dependence  on  the  Huron  mission  near  Detroit  it 
was  maintained  till  hostilities  between  France  and 
England  increased  and  the  missionary  was  driven 
away  by  chiefs  in  the  British  interest. 

In  1749,  Celoron  de  Blainville  had  traversed  Ohio 
with  a  party  to  take  formal  possession  of  the  territory 
in  the  name  of  the  King  of  France,  and  to  deposit 
leaden  plates  in  token  of  his  official  act.  This  expedi- 
tion was  attended  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Joseph  de 
Bonnecamp,  but  took  no  steps  to  secure  the  terri- 
tory by  fort  or  settlement.^ 

At  a  later  period  when  England  had  recognized  the 
independence  of  the  United  States,  she  continued 
under  frivolous  pretexts  to  hold  several  western  posts, 
and  even  to  erect  new  fortifications  on  soil  which  was 
acknowledged  to  be  American  territory.  One  of  these 
was  Fort  Miami  on  the  Maumee  River.  Near  it,  in 
1795,  the  Rev.  Edmund  Burke,  afterwards  Vicar 
Apostolic  of  Nova  Scotia,  began  a  mission  among  the 

•  Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days,  pp.  631,  613. 
830 


RT.    REV.    EDWARD   DOMINIC    FENWICK,    O.P. 
FIRST  BISHOP   OF   CINCINNATI, 


331 


GALLIPOLIS.  333 

Ottawas,  Cliippewas,  and  Pottowatomies,  but  liis  term 
of  labor  here  was  brief.  ^ 

After  his  retirement  we  find  no  trace  of  Catholicity 
in  those  parts.  When  the  settlement  of  the  future 
State  was  began  at  Marietta  in  1788,  few  Catholics  seem 
to  have  joined  in  the  rapid  emigration  to  the  State, 
which  was  admitted  into  the  Union  fourteen  years 
later. 

The  French  settlement  of  Gallipolis,  projected  by  a 
number  of  titled  and  wealthy  gentlemen  in  France  in 
1790,  was  the  theme  of  conversation  in  all  circles,  and 
a  wondrous  colony  of  French  settlers  was  to  rise  in  the 
wilderness.  So  magnificent  a  picture  did  the  projec- 
tors draw  at  Rome  of  the  future  greatness  of  the  Scioto 
country  that  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  established  a  Pre- 
fecture Apostolic,  the  exact  extent  of  which  has  not 
been  ascertained,  but  which  must  have  included  south- 
ern Ohio.  As  prefect,  subject  to  Archbishop  Carroll, 
was  appointed  Dom  Peter  Joseph  Didier,  a  monk  of 
the  Order  of  Saint  Benedict,  who  had  been  procurator 
of  the  great  Abbey  of  St.  Denis  near  Paris.  He  came 
over  apparently  with  a  party  of  immigrants  who  landed 
at  Alexandria  in  1790,  but  on  reaching  Ohio  the  poor 
immigrants  found  themselves  to  be  the  victims  of  un- 
principled land  speculators,  who  did  not  even  own  the 
land  they  pretended  to  sell. 

Dom  Didier  established  a  church  at  Gallipolis,  and 
labored  among  the  settlers  for  a  few  years,  but  irre- 
ligion  prevailed,  all  who  could  sought  other  homes, 
and  in  time  the  prefect,  disheartened  and  discouraged, 
made  his  way  to  St.  Louis,  assuming  the  less  preten- 
tious title  of  parish  pjriest.  Rev.  Stephen  T.  Badin 
visited  Gallipolis  in   1796,  but  he  found  there   only 

'  Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  pp.  477-478. 


334       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

eighty  men,  destitute  of  religion  and  morality,  among 
whom  he  could  effect  little  good.  In  a  few  years  nearly 
all  trace  of  settlement  seems  to  have  disappeared. 
Bishop  Flaget  on  his  appointment  found  Gallipolis 
little  more  than  a  name,  without  priest  or  faithful, 
without  church  or  altar. ^ 

One  of  the  early  known  Catholic  settlers  in  Ohio 
was  Michael  Scott  from  Baltimore,  who  took  up  his 
abode  in  Cincinnati  in  1805.  Finding  himself  cut  off 
from  the  consolations  of  religion  he  resolved  to  fulfill 
his  duties  at  Easter,  and  journeyed  with  his  family  to 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  only  to  find  that  the  resident 
priest  was  at  a  distant  mission.^ 

Though  Pope  Pius  VII.  erected  a  see  at  Bardstown 
in  1808,  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Flaget  could  not  reach 
his  diocese  till  1811.  Ohio  with  all  the  territory 
northwest  of  the  river  of  that  name  was  placed  tem- 
porarily under  his  charge.  After  visiting  the  st-ations 
in.  Kentucky  he  set  out  in  the  autumn  of  1812  to 
attend  a  proposed  council  at  Baltimore.  Accompa- 
nied by  Rev.  Stephen  T.  Badin  he  entered  the  State 
of  Ohio  on  the  7th  of  October.  The  first  Catholic 
they  met  was  William  Cassell,  whose  children  they 
baptized ;  at  Chillicothe  there  were  a  few  Catholics, 
whose  faith  was  nearly  extinct ;  Lancaster  could 
boast  of  three  or  four  Catholic  families,  and  here  the 
Bishop  baptized  live  children.  On  his  way  to  Somer- 
set the  missionaries  stopped  at  the  log  hut  of  Fink,  a 
settler,  who  proved  to  be  a  Catholic.  When  he  heard 
that  his  guests  were  from  Kentucky,  he  exclaimed : 
*'From  Kentucky!  I  have  been  for  a  long  time 
thinking  of   Kentucky,    with   my   wife !      They   say 

'  Life  aad  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  pp.  481-2 
2  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  vi.,  p.  27 


BISHOP  FLAGET  IN  OHIO.  335 

there  are  cliurches  and  priests  there.  Wife!  we 
must  go  thither ;  it  is  thirteen  years  since  we  saw 
either  a  church  or  a  jjriest,  and  my  poor  children — " 

Here  Bishop  Flaget,  deeply  moved,  interrupted 
him:  "No,  my  children,  stay  where  you  are;  lam 
your  Bishop.  I  will  endeavor  to  send  you  a  priest,  at 
least  once  a  year,  to  console  you.  Are  there  any  more 
Catholics  in  this  neighborhood?"  The  astonished 
man  could  scarcely  believe  the  reality  of  what  was 
told  him ;  but  he  contrived  to  tell  the  Bishop  that 
within  three  miles  were  two  other  Catholic  families, 
by  name  Dittoe.     These  too  received  a  visit  from  the 

SIGNATURE   OF  BISHOP  FENWICK. 

Bishop,  who  offered  the  holy  sacrifice  in  one  of  their 
houses  on  the  11th  of  October. 

These  good  people  were  so  delighted  at  the  prospect 
of  being  regularly  attended,  that  they  agreed  to  set 
apart  land  for  a  priest's  house  and  a  temporary 
chapel.^ 

It  was  apparently  to  carry  out  his  promise  to  these 
forlorn  Catholics  and  to  discharge  his  own  conscience 
that  Bishop  Flaget  appealed  to  the  Dominican  Fath- 
ers  to  take  charge   of  the  missions   in  the  State  of 


'  Sketch  by  Rev.  Stephen  Byrne,  O.P.  ;  Hammer,  "  Der  Apostel  von 
Ohio.  Ein  Lebensbild  des  hochw.  Eduard  Domiuik  Fenwick,"  etc., 
Freiburg,  1890,  pp.  29-30, 37.  Spalding,  "Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  p.  I(l9, 
citing  and  following  Bishop  Flaget's  Journal  in  1812.  Some  have  given 
1810  (Aunales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  ii.,  p.  84)  as  the  date  of  Father  Fen- 
wick's  first  visit  to  Ohio,  but  they  seem  to  confound  Bishop  Flaget's  visit 
with  his.  Bishop  Fenwick,  writing  in  1823  to  Rev.  S.  T.  Badin,  says 
that  he  first  visited  Ohio  nine  years  before.     U.  S.  Cath.  Mag  ,  vi.,  p.  29. 


336       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Ohio,  and  sent  Father  Edward  Fenwick  to  begin  the 
apostolic  labors  there  that  ended  onJy  witli  his  heroic 
death. 

The  little  cluster  of  Catholic  families  thus  visited 
was  the  centre  selected  for  his  mission.  Gladly  re- 
signing the  office  of  provincial  of  his  order  to  Father 
Thomas  Wilson,  Father  Fenwick  proceeded  to  the 
homes  of  the  Dittoes  and  Fink.  They  welcomed  him 
with  the  deepest  joy  of  their  hearts,  affording  him 
an  interior  consolation  that  was  never  effaced  from 
his  memory.  Taking  up  his  abode  among  them,  he 
made  it  the  centre  of  missions  to  all  parts  of  the 
State  in  search  of  Catholics,  and  leaving  the  way  for 
future  organized  work.  In  the  spring  of  1818  Father 
Nicholas  D.  Young,  nephew  of  Father  Fenwick,  vis- 
ited Cincinnati,  Chillicothe,  Somerset,  and  Zanesville. 

After  four  years'  missionary  work  in  Ohio,  Father 
Edward  Fenwick  took  possession  of  the  ground  given 
by  the  Dittoes  for  the  use  of  religion  and  erected  a  log 
church  in  honor  of  St.  Joseph,  which  was  dedicated 
on  the  6th  of  December,  1818.  A  two-story  log  house 
near  it  became  the  first  Dominican  convent.'  Catho- 
licity had  thus  once  more  a  shrine  in  the  State  of  Ohio, 
and  Father  Fenwick  bound  himself  to  keep  uj)  a  house 
of  regulars  or  a  succession  of  priests  at  St.  Joseph's  to 
minister  to  the  faithful  in  that  district. 

The  Catholic  body  began  to  grow  rapidly.  A  little 
congregation  was  soon  gathered  at  Zanesville,  another 
at  Lancaster,  and  a  third  in  Morgan  Countj^,  all  en- 
couraged and  attended  by  the  zealous  friars  of  St. 
Joseph's.^    Two  other  congregations  were  added  in  a 


'  Tliis  original  convent  was  destroyed  by  fire  la  1853.     Notes  of  Rev. 
Stephen  Byrne,  O.P. 

'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  ii.,  p.  165. 


FIRST  CHURCH,  CINCINNATI. 


337 


few  years,  and  in  1820  St.  Paul's  Church,  Dungannon, 
a  small  brick  building,  was  erected.' 

As  early  as  December  11,  1811,  a  notice  appeared 
calling  on  Catholics  to  organize  a  congregation  in  Cin- 
cinnati. The  meeting  was  held  two  days  afterwards 
in  the  house  of  Jas.  Fabler,  but  no  definite  action  was 
taken.  The  project  was  not  revived  till  1818,  when  a 
lot  was  obtained  at  the  corner  of  Vine  and  Liberty 


ST.   PAUL'S   CHURCH,   NEAR  DUNGANKON,   O.,   BUILT  IN   1820. 
FIRST   CHURCH  IN  NORTHERN  OHIO. 

streets,  in  the  Northern  Liberties,  for  a  city  ordi- 
nance prevented  the  erection  of  a  church  withm  the 

iHouck,    "The  Church  ia  Northern  Ohio."    New  Yorli,  1887,  pp. 
16-17. 


338       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

city  limits.  Here  a  plain  barn-like  structure  of  planks 
lif ty-tive  feet  wide  was  put  up,  and  blessed  in  1819  by 
Father  N.  D.  Young.  This  church  stood  for  some 
years,  unceiledand  unplastered,^ 

Bishop  Flaget  had  long  desired  to  be  relieved  of  t)ie 
care  of  the  States  and  Territories  northwest  of  the 
Ohio,  which  had  been  placed  temporarily  under  iiis 
administration.  Seeing  the  progress  already  made  by 
the  Church  in  Ohio,  and  the  encouraging  prospect,  he 
urged  the  authority  in  Rome  to  erect  an  episcopal  see 
in  that  State.  As  the  immigration  was  largely  Ger- 
man he  suggested  the  appointment  of  Prince  Gallitzin, 
who  was  brought  up  in  Germany,  and  was  accustomed 
to  direct  Catholics  from  that  country.  His  rank, 
his  zeal,  his  piety,,  and  his  experience  all  seemed 
to  lit  him  for  the  position.  His  next  choice  was 
Father  Edward  Dominic  Fenwick,  who  had  been  the 
apostle  of  the  State. 

Acting  on  the  suggestion  of  Bishop  Flaget,  Pope 
Pius  VIII.,  by  his  bull  "  Inter  Multiplices,"  June  19, 
1821,  addressed  to  Father  Edward  Fenwick,  of  the 
order  of  Preachers,  erected  an  episcopal  see  at  Cincin- 
nati, and  assigned  the  State  of  Ohio  as  the  diocese.^ 
Bishop  Flaget  had  proposed  also  the  establishment  of 
a  see  at  Detroit,  but  this  was  deferred,  and  Michigan 
with  Northwest  Territory,  now  Wisconsin,  was  jjlaced 
temporarily  under  the  care  of  the  Bishop  of  Cincin- 
nati. 

Though  reluctant  to  abandon  the  life  of  a  simple 
missionary  under  obedience  to  his  order,  Father  Fen 

'  "  Cincinnati,  die  Katolischen  Kirchen,  Kloster,  Kapellen,  und  Insti- 
tute," p.  8  ;  Cincinnati  Directory,  1819,  p.  41  ;  Dralic  and  Mansfield, 
Cincinnati  in  1826,  pp.  55-6  ;  Hammer,  "  Der  Apostel  von  Oliio."  p.  41. 

*  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  iv.,  p.  385. 


BISHOP  E.  D.  FENWICK.        .  339 

wick  yielded  to  the  command  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff 
and  accepted  the  ejjiscopal  honor  which  he  had  never 
sought.  He  had  devoted  his  whole  paternal  estate, 
and  all  he  could  obtain  from  friends,  to  found  and 
promote  the  establishment  of  St.  Rose's  Convent  in 
Kentucky.  Now  taken  out  of  his  order  to  be  raised 
to^he  episcopate,  he  was  obliged  by  his  rule  and 
vows  to  render  an  account  of  all  property,  even  of 
books  and  furniture,  that  he  had  been  allowed  to  use. 
He  was  consecrated  in  St.  Rose's  Church  on  the 
Feast  of  the  Holy  Name  of  Jesus,  January  13,  1822, 
by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Flaget,  Rev.  Fathers  Wilson  and 
Hill  acting  as  assistants.  The  sermon  on  the  occasion 
was  delivered  by  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  David,  Bishop  of 
Mauricastro.^  In  the  latter  i)art  of  March  he  set  out 
for  Cincinnati  accompanied  hj  Fathers  Wilson  and 
Hill,  without  whose  aid  he  had  declined  to  accept  the 
burden  imposed  upon  him.  His  old  friends,  the 
congregation  of  St.  Rose's  Church,  made  up  a  purse 
of  four  or  five  hundred  dollars  for  him,  but  it  was  in 
Kentucky  paper,  on  which  he  lost  about  one-half 
when  he  crossed  into  Ohio.  He  was  installed  at  the 
close  of  March  by  Bishoi)  Flaget,  "with  humble  cere- 
mony and  silent  panegyric,"  in  the  poor  little  chapel 
in  the  Northern  Liberties,  two  miles  outside  of  the  city 
of  Cincinnati.  ' '  When  I  took  possession  of  the  dio- 
cese," he  wrote,  "  I  had  to  rent  a  house  to  live  in,  and 
to  send  to  market  for  the  first  meal,  no  provision  hav- 
ing been  made  for  the  maintenance  of  the  bishop." 
This  iiouse  was  really  only  two  rooms,  one  for  him- 

'  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  vi.,  pp.  28-29.  Cardinal  Consalvi  had 
■written  to  the  Superior  of  the  Dominicans  forbidding  the  alienation  of 
any  property  of  his  subjects  in  Kentucky  without  the  approbation  of 
the  local  Bishop.  Bishop  E.  Fenwick  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Feb.,  1823. 
Hammer,  "  Dor  Apostel  von  Ohio,"  p.  44. 


340       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

self  and  the  other  for  his  two  priests,  but  mass  was 
said  there  every  day.^ 

Bishop  Fenwick  resolved  to  move  the  church,  poor 
as  it  was,  into  the  city,  and  secured  a  small  lot  on 
Sycamore  above  Sixth  Street.  The  pro-cathedral  was 
drawn  by  oxen  to  its  new  site  amid  shouts  of  hatred 
and  derision.  There  is  a  tradition  that  on  the  irst 
Sunday  after  the  transfer,  while  the  holy  sacrifice  was 
proceeding,  the  building  began  to  sway.  Michael 
Scott  jumped  over  his  pew  and  ran  out  followed  by 


CHRIST   CHURCH,   ORIGINALLY  AT   VINE  AND   LIBERTY   STREETS. 

another  member  of  the  congregation.  Scott  crept 
under  the  building  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  and  steadied 
one  of  the  props  till  his  companion  made  the  supports 
secure,  and  enabled  Scott  to  emerge  from  his  post  of 
danger. 


'  "  Communicated.  We  congratulate  the  Roman  Catholics  of  this 
city  and  environs  on  the  arrival  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Fenwick,  lately 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Cincinnati  and  the  State  of  Ohio.  This  circum- 
stance interests  not  only  the  Catholics  but  all  the  friends  of  literature 
and  useful  knowledge,  as  we  understand  that  his  intention  is  ultimately 
to  open  a  school,  aided  by  the  members  of  his  order  long  distinguished 
for  their  piety  and  learning." — "  Liberty  Hall  and  Cincinnati  Gazette,"' 
March  30,  1822. 


MICHIGAN.  341 

This  primitive  Cathedral  of  Cincinnati,  soon  proved 
inadequate  to  hold  the  i^eople  who  gathered  there. 
When  Father  Hill  i:>i"eached  numbers  of  Protestants 
attended,  and  not  only  were  the  seats  all  filled,  but  the 
aisles  were  thronged  and  the  window-sills  turned  to 
account.  The  good  Bishop  had  endeavored  to  collect 
eno^igli  to  buy  a  lot  and  build,  but  he  failed,  and  was 
compelled  to  solicit  credit.  "  I  am  beyond  contradic- 
tion," he  wrote,  "the  poorest  of  all  bishops  in  the 
Catholic  world,  and  my  diocese  more  extended  than 
any  other  except  those  of  Louisiana  and  Nova 
Scotia."  ' 

His  missionary  labors  had  been  confined  to  the  State 
of  Ohio,  but  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  had  annexed  to  his 
diocese  the  old  French  districts  of  Michigan  and  North- 
western Territory.  In  those  j)arts  the  Jesuit  Fathers 
Jognes  and  Raimbault  planted  the  cross  at  Sault 
Ste.  Marie  in  1642.  Father  Rene  Menard  followed  up 
the  work  in  1660,  and  established  his  mission  cabin 
near  L'Anse  on  Lake  Superior,  saying  his  first  mass 
on  the  feast  of  St.  Teresa.  When  he  had  fallen  under 
an  Indian  tomahawk,  a  victim  to  his  zeal  and  charity, 
Father  Allouez  reared  a  chapel  at  Chagoimegon,  and 
stations  were  established  at  L'Anse  and  at  Sault  Ste. 
Marie.  Then  in  1670  he  founded  a  mission  at  Green 
Bay  :  and  the  next  year  Father  Marquette  gathered  at 
Michilimakinac  the  wandering  Ottawas  and  Hurons. 
Then  in  1701  Detroit,  the  first  regular  white  settle- 
ment, was  founded,  and  a  church  was  begun  on  the 
feast  of  Saint  Anne,  which  bears  her  name  to  this  day. 
Around  this  post  other  hamlets  grew  up,   and  the 

'  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  ii.,  pp.  47-8,  89-90.  "  Stato 
della  Religione  iiegli  Stati  Uniti."  The  incident  relative  to  Mr.  Michael 
Scott  I  obtained  from  Miss  Mary  M.  Meline,  her  informant  being  a 
daughter  of  Scott's  companion. 


342       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Huron  mission  became  a  kind  of  suburb.  Near  the 
close  of  the  French  X3eriod,  Father  Dujaunai  founded 
a  mission  among  the  Ottawas  at  Arbre  Croche. 

All  these  points  were  still  Catholic  centres  when  the 
district  was  placed  under  Bishop  Fenwick's  supervi- 
sion. There  was  a  cluster  of  some  sixteen  families, 
chiefly  French,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee ;  six  or 
eight  miles  north,  in  view  of  the  scene  of  Perry's  vic- 
tory on  Lake  Erie,  there  were  more  than  fifteen  fam- 
ilies, with  another  church,  dedicated  by  Rev.  Gabriel 
Richard  on  Low  Sunday,  1821.  At  Otter  Creek 
there  were  twenty-five  Catholic  families.  Then  on 
Raisin  River  was  the  old  mission  station,  near  which 
had  grown  up  the  town  of  Monroe,  Here  stood  the 
Church  of  St.  Anthony  of  Padua,  erected  by  Rev. 
Edmund  Burke.  Beside  the  church  was  the  presby- 
tery, and  full  a  hundred  and  fifty  families  formed 
the  congregation.  But  church  and  altar  had  been 
terriblj^  neglected  when  Bishop  Flaget  visited  it  in 
1818.  He  stationed  Rev.  Mr.  Janvier  here  in  Septem- 
ber, and  revisiting  the  church  in  April,  1819,  adminis- 
tered confirmation.  Some  steps  were  taken  to  erect  a 
solid  church  of  stone,  but  no  practical  work  was  done 
when  Bishop  Fenwick  was  installed.^  He  appointed 
to  this  church  in  April,  1822,  Rev.  Anthony  Ganilh, 
but  that  priest  was  almost  forced  to  leave  in  July  by 
the  reluctance  of  the  people  to  give  him  a  necessary 
support.  Ten  families  clustered  together  at  Huron 
River,  thirty  at  Riviere  aux  Ecores,  and  as  many 
Catholic  families  at  Riviere  Rouge  before  you  reached 
Detroit,  with  its  new  stone  church,  dedicated  to  St. 
Anne,  of  which  Bishop  Flaget  laid  the  corner-stone  in 


'  U.  S.  Catli.  Miscellany,  ii.,  pp.  8-9  ;  Bishop  Maes,  "History  of  the 
Catholic  Church  in  Monroe."     U,  S.  Cath.  Hist.  Mag.,  ii.,  pp.  144-9. 


MICHIGAN  CHURCHES.  343 

1818,  Above  Detroit  a  hundred  and  fifty  families 
were  scattered  along  Detroit  River  ;  on  Lake  St.  Clair 
and  Anchor  Bay  were  a  hundred  more,  with  a  church 
under  the  invocation  of  Saint  Francis  de  Sales.  Then 
further  on  some  eighty  Catholic  families  were  settled 
near  the  Church  of  Pointe  St.  Ignace,  north  of  Macki- 
nac Island  ;  twenty  or  thirty  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  ; 
sixty  families  along  the  shores  of  Green  Bay  ;  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  Catholic 
families  were  estimated  at  Prairie  du  Cliien  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Wisconsin.  In  this  extensive  district 
there  were  Indians  of  the  Ottawa,  Potto watomie  and 
Wyandot  tribes,  still  attached  to  the  Catholic  faith, 
whose  numbers  might  be  estimated  at  six  thousand. 
Arbre  Croche  was  a  favorite  gathering  place  for  these 
Indians,  and  the  Catholic  Ottawas  pointed  out  to  Rev, 
Gabriel  Richard  the  river  on  whose  banks  Father 
James  Marquette  expired  while  making  his  way 
slowly  and  feebly  to  his  chapel  at  Mackinac.^  These 
Indians  were  recognized  as  Catholic  by  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  the  Ottawa,  Chij^pewa,  and 
Pottowatomie  tribes  ceding  to  the  Church  of  St.  Anne 
and  college  at  Detroit  a  square  mile  of  land  at  Macon 
on  Raisin  River,  and  three  sections  of  land.^  The 
French  settlements  had  been  visited  from  time  to  time, 
but  many  required  a  regular  pastor  to  save  them. 

Rev.  Gabriel  Richard,  overburdened  with  labors  at 
and  near  Detroit,  yet  struggled  manfully  to  visit  from 
time  to  time  these  poor  Catholics.  He  was  at  Arbre 
Croche  in  September,  1821,  and  of  Marquette  River  he 
says  :    "I  was  detained  here  a  week  by  head  winds, 


'  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  ii.,  pp.  8-9. 

'  Treaty  with   Wyandots,  Senekas,  Delawares,  etc.,  Sept.  29,  1817. 
"  Treaties  between  U.  S.  and  Indian  Tribes,"  Washington,  1837,  p.  223, 


344       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

during  which  period  I  frequently  visited  the  grave  * 
and  prayed  upon  this  interesting  spot.  I  celebrated 
mass  upon  the  banks  of  the  river  on  Sunday,  and  my 
little  flock  went  with  me  in  procession  to  the  cross 
which  I  had  erected,  where  I  sung  the  '  Libera '  for 
the  soul  of  our  brother.  In  all,  Ottawas  and  others, 
we  were  fifty  members  of  the  Church,  and  all  appeared 
greatly  penetrated  with  the  divine  providence  of  the 
Great  Spirit,  our  Father  who  is  in  Heaven.  I  ad- 
dressed them  with  considerable  effect,  but  under  such 
circumstances  it  was  impossible  not  to  be  eloquent." 

In  the  autumn  of  1822,  Bishop  Fenwick  made  a  vis- 
itation accompanied  by  Father  Nicholas  D.  Young. 
From  St.  Joseph's  they  visited  Zanesville,  Guernsey 
Co.,  Canton,  Wooster,  where  two  or  three  were  received 
into  the  Church.  Their  route  thence  lay  through 
Mansfield,  Portland  or  Upper  Sandusky,  Truceville, 
where  Father  Young  held  a  controversy  with  an  in- 
fidel. They  next  proceeded  to  Detroit,  where  the  Rev. 
Gabriel  Richard  received  the  Bishop  with  all  honor, 
and  Governor  Lewis  Cass  invited  him  to  a  public 
dinner.  Then  he  began  his  regular  work,  giving  in- 
structions, hearing  confessions,  preparing  classes  for 
confirmation  and  first  communion.  He  confirmed 
three  hundred  in  the  two  congregations  at  Detroit, 
whose  recently  erected  Church  of  Saint  Anne  he  de- 
scribed as  an  elegant  structure  of  brick  and  stone,  well 
adapted  for  a  cathedral.  The  presbytery  was  a  two- 
story  frame  house,  and  the  church  possessed  five  or 
six  acres  within  three  miles  of  the  town.  There  was 
also  another  church,  with  three  acres  inclosed,  and  a 
property  of  three  hundred  acres.^    A  good  beginning 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  ii.,  p.  10. 

« Bishop  E.  Fenwick  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Feb.  9,  1833. 


DECREE  TAMETSI.  345 

existed  therefore  for  the  iDrojected  diocese,  with  a  flock 
essentially  different  from  that  in  Ohio. 

Bishop  Fenwick  was  soon  summoned  back  to  Cin- 
cinnati, where  he  had  secured  a  small  lot  near  his 
church,  giving  him  a  plot  a  hundred  and  twenty  feet 
square  for  a  cathedral  and  residence. 

The  extent  and  wants  of  his  episcopal  district  were 
now  clearly  before  him,  but  he  was  utterly  destitute 
of  means  to  undertake  any  important  work. 

Michigan  and  Northwest  Territory  had  been  included 
in  the  diocese  of  Quebec,  and  the  decrees  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent  in  regard  to  marriage  had  been  duly  pub- 
lished there,  and  observed  untiJ,  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  England  ceased  to  occupy  that  portion  of  the 
soil  of  the  United  States.  After  that,  discipline  be- 
came more  lax,  and  many  marriages  were  contracted 
which  were  not  valid  in  the  eyes  of  the  Church.  To 
remedy  this  disorder.  Bishop  Fenwick  applied  to  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  and  obtained  faculties  to  revalidate 
these  illicit  unions.^  As  to  Ohio,  which  constituted 
his  diocese  properly,  it  could  not  be  considered  as  a 
part  where  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  had  been 
regularly  published,  so  that  clandestine  marriages  were 
valid,  though  contrary  to  the  discipline  of  the  church. ^ 

The  Bishop's  only  resource  was  the  Sunday  collec- 
tions in  his  chapel,  which  ranged  from  one  dollar 
to  three,  and  this  was  to  support  a  Bishop  and  two 
priests. 

He  resolved  to  go  at  once  to  Rome  to  expose  the 
condition  of  affairs  in  his  diocese  and  the  annexed 
district.     Having  obtained  a  loan  of  a  few  hundred 


'  Cardinal  Caprano  to  Bishop  Fenwick,  June  24,  1827.    Instructio  ad 
R.  P.  D.  Edwardum  Fenwick De  NonnuUis  matrimoniis. 

*  Same  to  same,  May  15,  1828. 


346       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

dollars  lie  proceeded  to  New  York,  where  he  em- 
barked, and  after  a  voyage  of  four  weeks  reached 
Bordeaux ;  the  Archbishop  and  clergy  showed  him 
every,  attention,  but  he  was  anxious  to  reach  Rome. 
He  obtained  an  audience  with  Pope  Leo  XII.,  who  re- 
ceived him  with  the  greatest  kindness.  Bishop  Fen- 
wick  wished  to  resign  his  diocese,  that  it  might  be 
committed  to  abler  hands,  but  the  Pope  smilingly 
forbade  him  to  si^eak  of  abdicating,  and  exhorted 
liim  to  continue  the  work  of  which  he  was  God's  in- 
strument. His  Holiness  promised  all  possible  aid, 
and  assigned  to  the  Bishop  two  priests  from  the 
Propaganda,  with  a  sum  of  nionej^,  church  plate,  vest- 
ments, books,  etc.  Bishoi:)  Fenwick  received  aid  also 
from  the  Duke  of  Lucca.  He  then  set  out  for  Lyons, 
ordaining  and  contirming  at  Savona,  at  the  request  of 
the  Bishop.  On  entering  France  he  continued  to  wear 
the  white  habit  of  St,  Dominic,  which  had  not  been 
seen  in  public  there  since  the  Reign  of  Terror.  The 
directors  of  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  received  the  Bishop  of  Cincinnati  as  an 
apostle  and  made  him  a  grant  of  $1600,  besides 
recommending  him  to  the  chief  almoner  of  France. 

His  exertions  in  Europe  obtained  for  Bishop  Fen- 
wick about  ten  thousand  dollars  in  all,  little,  indeed, 
for  his  great  wants,  but  sufficient  to  encourage  him. 
In  the  autumn  of  1824  he  sent  over  three  priests 
whom  he  had  secured  for  his  diocese,  and  followed 
himself  before  spring.  Tarrying  awhile  in  his  native 
State  he  conferred  the  holy  order  of  priesthood  on 
two  candidates  by  permission  of  Archbishop  Mare- 
chal.^ 

During  his  absence  Father  Hill,  whom  he  had  left 

'U.  8.  Cath.  Miscellany,  lii  ,  p.  319  ;  iv.,  p.  175. 


OHIO  CHURCHES.  347 

as  Vicar-General,  with  the  other  Dominican  Fathers, 
had  labored  zealously.  From  St.  Joseph's,  in  Ferry 
County,  Father  N.  D.  Young  and  his  associates, 
Fathers  Thomas  Martin  and  Vincent  de  Raymacher, 
extended  their  ministry  in  all  directions,  besides  at- 
tending the  hundred  and  thirty  families  near  the 
church.  At  Zanesville  the  Catholics,  though  number- 
ing only  forty  or  fifty  families,  had  courageously 
begun  to  erect  a  brick  church.  Father  Martin  raised 
a  neat  frame  one,  dedicated  to  St.  Mary,  at  Lan- 
caster, where  he  attended  every  month  a  congrega- 
tion of  twenty  families  ;  St.  Bernard's  log;  church,  in 
Morgan  County,  was  also  attended  from  St.  Joseph's. 
A  fine  brick  church  was  begun  at  Canton,  with  a 
steeple  that  was  visible  in  all  directions  as  people  en- 
tered the  town  ;  but  its  completion  was  overshadowed 
with  gloom  by  the  accidental  death  during  the  work 
of  the  zealous  and  pious  Mr.  John  Shorb,  who  had 
aroused  the  faith  of  others  and  gave  his  services  and 
means  freely  for  the  great  object.  A  brick  church 
was  also  begun  near  New  Lisbon,  on  ground  given  by 
Mr.  Daniel  McAllister,  and  a  log  church  dedicated  to 
St.  Luke  in  Knox  County.^ 

About  this  time  the  Catholic  Indians  at  Arbre 
Croche  appealed  to  the  General  Government  by  the 
following  petition  : 

We,  the  undersigned  Chiefs,  heads  of  families  or  other  indi- 
viduals of  the  tribe  of  the  Ottawas  residing  at  Waganakisi  (The 
Arbre  Croche,  or  Crooked  Tree),  take  this  mode  to  communicate 
our  wants  and  wishes  to  our  most  respected  Father,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  U.  S.  We  return  oiir  best  thanks  to  our  Father  and 
to  Congress  for  his  and  their  exertions  to  bring  us,  your  very 


'  Bishop  E.  Fenwick  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  Frederick,  March  6, 
1825  ;  same  to  Rev.  S.  T.  Badin.  Hammer,  p.  48.  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscel- 
lany, ii  ,  p.  165  ;  ill.,  p.  319. 


348       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

affectionate  children,  to  civilization  and  to  the  knowledge  of 
Jesus,  the  Redeemer  of  the  redskins  as  well  as  of  the  white 
people. 

Trusting  on  your  paternal  affection,  we  come  forward,  and 
claiming  the  liberty  of  conscience,  we  most  earnestly  pray  that 
you  may  be  pleased  to  let  us  have  a-  teacher  or  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel  belonging  to  the  same  Denomination  of  the  spiritual 
fathers  which  were  sent  to  our  parents  by  the  French  govern- 
ment and  have  long  many  years  resided  amongst  us,  occupied 
and  cultivated  a  field  on  our  own  ground.  We  are  willing  to  be 
taught  religion,  arts,  and  agriculture  by  ministers  of  the  same 
Religion,  which  is  called  the  Catholic  religion. 

We  further  invite  such  teachers  appointed  by  your  paternal 
affection  to  come  and  settle  on  the  same  spot,  formei'ly  occupied 
by  Fr.  Lefranc,  Fr.  Dujaunais,  and  others,  that  is  to  say,  on  the 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  near  the  lower  end  of  our  village  at  the 
Arbre  Croche. 

For  so  doing  and  granting  your  children  their  humble  peti- 
tion, they  will  forever  feel  grateful  and  will  pray  the  Great 
Spirit  to  bless  you  and  your  white  children.  In  witness  thereof 
we  have  made  our  Tautems  (marks)  on  tliis  day,  the  12th 
August,  1823. 

Miquissanessa  (Bear's  Paw) ;  Pandiguekawa  (mouse)  ; 
Tete  d'avial ;  Kakijiquaame  (aigle) ;  Nibinici  (pate 
d'ours) ;  Ogitichigami  (une  carpe) ;  Chichaque  (une 
grue) ;  Pechacigne  (aigle) ;  Omachcose  ;  Dapetagi- 
jigo  (ours);  Chaguichi;  Giniwigoine  (barbue);  Was- 
egijigo  (lievre) ;  Cibojigane  (une  grue) ;  Wakechema 
(une  carpe);  Menginiwananl  (ours) ;  Naganache  (un 
canard) ;  Peponahang  (un  dinde) ;  Pitobeg  (une 
aigle)  ;  Sivvitagane  (un  poisson) ;  Miteunice  (un 
eturgeon) ;  Gagagegne  (La  grue). 
Matthew  McGulpin, 

Witness. 
J.  V.  Milpi  pere. 

Witness. 

Bishop  Fenwick  arrived  in  Cincinnati  in  March, 
1825.  His  little  seminary  at  once  lost  its  professor, 
who  belonged  to  the  diocese  of  New  Orleans,  and  was 
only  temporarily  at  Cincinnati.     His  Vicar-General, 


V.   REV.   WILLIAM  HILL,   O.P.  349 

appointed  provincial  of  the  new  Dominican  province 
in  Ohio,  was  engaged  in  organizing  it  and  establish- 
ing a  novitiate.  The  Catholic  congregation  in  Cincin- 
nati increased  rapidly,  many  Protestants  seeking 
guidance  and  explanation.  Three  heads  of  families 
and  a  lady  came  to  the  Bishop  in  as  many  days. 
With  such  priestly  aid  as  he  had,  Bishoj)  Fen  wick 
labored  unremittingly,  delivering  four  sermons  every 
Sunday  besides  a  catechetical  instruction. 

Rev.  Frederic  Reze,  whom  he  had  sent  over  from 
Europe,  was  fast  acquiring  English,  and  meanwhile 
became  the  special  missionary  of  his  countrymen,  dis- 
covering no  fewer  than  thirty-three  Catholic  families, 
whom  he  recalled  to  their  Christian  duties.^ 

The  corner-stone  of  a  church  to  be  dedicated  to  the 
Holy  Trinity  w^as  laid  in  Somerset,  Ohio,  on  the  26tli 
of  May,  1822.  It  rose  gradually,  and  on  its  comple- 
tion was  admitted  to  be,  next  to  the  cathedral,  the 
finest  church  in  the  State.  It  was  a  brick  structure, 
seventy-five  feet  by  forty,  and  Mr.  Peter  Dittoe,  of 
the  family  of  the  Catholic  pioneers  of  Ohio,  was  one 
of  its  chief  benefactors.  The  church  was  dedicated 
on  the  28th  of  October,  1827,  by  Father  Hill,  O.P., 
Vicar-General  of  the  diocese,  who  delivered  an  elo- 
quent discourse  on  the  occasion.^ 

The  diocese  had  soon  to  deplore  the  loss  of  that 
eminent  son  of  St.  Dominic.  He  died  at  Canton, 
Sept.  3,  1828.  Born  in  England,  he  renounced  the 
doctrines  of  the  Established  Church  at  the  age  of 
twenty-five.  After  a  divinity  course  at  St.  Omer,  and 
in  England,  and  after  enduring  two  years'  imprison- 


'  Bishop  Penwick  to  P.  Pallavicini,  Cincinnati,  March  29,  1825,  in 
Ave  Maria.     Catholic  Mirror,  Oct.  14,  1882. 

*U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  vii.,  p.  159. 


350       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ment  at  Yerdun,  lie  finally  entered  the  Order  of  St. 
Dominic  in  the  convent  of  the  Minerva  at  Rome.  In- 
duced by  Father  Wilson  he  came  to  the  United  States 
to  labor  zealously  and  successfully  in  the  missions  of 
Kentucky  and  Ohio.  He  died  the  death  of  a  perfect 
religious.^ 

One  of  Bishop  Fenwick's  first  works  on  his  return 
was  the  erection  of  a  suitable  church  in  Cincinnati  to 
serve  as  a  cathedral. 

Tlie  cathedral,  designed  by  the  architect  Michael 
Scott,  was  an  edifice  of  modest  dimensions,  built  of 
brick.  It  was  fifty  feet  wide  by  one  hundred  and  ten 
in  depth,  and  thirty  feet  in  height  from  base  to  cor- 
nices. It  had  five  windows  on  each  side,  fifteen  feet 
high.  On  the  floor  there  were  eighty-eight  pews,  and 
a  few  more  were  in  the  gallery,  on  either  side  of  the 
organ.  It  was,  for  its  time,  one  of  the  handsomest  • 
buildings  in  Cincinnati,  and  cost,  including  the  organ, 
ten  or  twelve  thousand  dollars.  Bishop  Fenwick 
hoped  to  dedicate  it  to  the  service  of  God  on  the  great 
feast  of  the  Resurrection,  in  1826,  but  it  was  not  till 
the  third  Sunday  of  xVdvent  that  the  Bishop  and  his 
diocese  could  rejoice  at  the  oi^ening  of  a  fane  worthy 
of  Catholicity.  Paintings  obtained  during  his  visit 
to  Rome,  from  the  generosity  of  Cardinal  Fesch,  who 
had  similarly  enriched  the  cathedral  of  Baltimore, 
adorned  the  spaces  between  the  gotliic  Avindows  ;  and 
the  sanctuary,  on  solemn  occasions,  displayed  vest- 
ments not  unworthy  the  grand  and  consoling  ceremo- 
nial of  the  ancient  Church.  Over  the  altar  was  a  fine 
painting  of  our  Lady  of  the  Rosary,  by  the  Flemish 
painter  Yerschoot.^ 

'U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  viii.,  p.  111. 

«  Drake  and  Mansfield,   "  Cincinnati  in  1826,"  pp.  35-6. 


CATHEDRAL  AND  SEMINARY. 


351 


A  seminary  and  a  residence  for  himself  were  the 
Bishop's  next  work.  The  Athenseum,  built  in  the 
same  style  as  the  cathedral,  was  on  the  further  side 
of  the  original  church,  which  in  time  was  replaced  by 
a  brick  residence  for  the  Bishop  and  clergy.  The 
Athenffium  was  a  seminary  and  college,  while  provi- 
sion had  already  been  made  for  the  education  of  girls 


THE   CATHEDRAL,    SEMINARY,    AKD   ATHEN.EUM. 

by  the  arrival  from  Europe  of  a  community  of  Poor 
Clares,  whom  he  had  induced  to  cross  the  Atlantic, 
At  the  opening  of  1827  their  select  school  numbered 
seventy  pupils. 

The  Athenseum,  bearing  on  its  front  the  inscription, 
"  Religioni  et  Artibus  Sacrum,"  was,  we  are  told,  well 


352       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

"organized  with  a  sufficient  number  of  teachers  to 
attend  closely  to  all  the  pu^Dils,  both  in  their  hours  of 
study  and  recreation.  This  feature,  in  which  most  of 
our  prominent  seminaries  are  defective,  gave  the 
school  a  reputation  and  induced  a  number  of  Prot- 
estants to  prefer  it  to  any  of  our  other  schools  for  the 
education  of  their  sons."  ^ 

On  Christmas  Day  Bishox)  Fenwick  published  the 
Jubilee  in  his  cathedral,  and  assisted  by  Rev.  James 
MuUon  and  Father  Nicholas  D.  Young,  gave  a  series 
of  instructions  to  prepare  his  flock  to  profit  by  the 
great  spiritual  graces  offered  them.  Then  they  went 
in  succession  to  St.  Mary's  Church,  Lancaster  ;  St. 
Joseph's,  Somerset;  St.  John's,  Zanesville  ;  St.  Paul's, 
Columbiana  County  ;  St.  John's,  Canton  ;  St.  Luke's, 
Knox  County,  and  St.  Dominic's,  Guernsey  County, 
giving  a  mission  of  several  days'  duration  in  each , 
church,  and  in  other  places  gathered  the  fnithful  in 
court-houses  or  other  available  buildings.  The  com- 
munions during  this  missionary  tour  numbered  about 
7400.2 

The  field  befoi^e  the  Dominican  Fathers  seemed  so 
promising  that  the  members  in  Ohio  were  erected  into 
a  separate  i)rovince  by  the  General  of  the  Order  and 
Rev.  Father  Josex)h  M.  Velzi,  O.P.,  January  11, 
1824  (their  community  having  been  incorporated  by 
an  act  of  the  Ohio  Legislature).^  Bishop  Fenwick 
found,  however,  that  deeds  had  been  made  out  to  the 
order,  and   not  to   the  diocese,   for  the   property  in 

'  Foote,  "  Schools  of  Cincinnati  and  its  Vicinity,"  Cincinnati,  1855. 

"U.  S.  Cath.  Magazine,  vi.,  pp.  92,  93,  94.  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany, 
vi.,  pp.  246,  390. 

'Patent  erecting  province,  now  in  Bishops'  Memorial  Hall,  Notre 
Dame. 


SEMINARY  OPENED.  353 

Brown  County,  Zanesville,  Canton,  and  other  places. 
Mild  as  he  was,  and  strongly  attached  to  the  Order  of 
St.  Dominic,  he  could  not  sanction  these  steps,  which 
had  been  taken  without  liis  knowledge.^ 

When  the  whole  matter  was  laid  before  the  authori- 
ties in  Rome,  an  adjustment  was  made  between  Car-~ 
dinal  Capellari,  Prefect  of  the  Congregation  de  Propa- 
ganda Fide,  and  Father  Joseph  M.  Yelzi,  Vicar- 
General  of  the  Order  of  Preachers,  in  virtue  of  which 
the  new  province  of  St.  Louis  Bertrand  was  sup- 
pressed and  its  houses  reunited  to  that  of  St.  Josei)h. 
Bishop  Fenwick  was  appointed  for  life  Commissary- 
General  of  the  province,  and  the  Dominican  Fathers 
agreed  to  pay  future  Bishops  of  Cincinnati,  not  be- 
longing to  their  order,  $300  a  year.^ 

Bishop  Fenwick  now  applied  to  the  Holy  See  for 
the  aj)pointment  of  a  coadjutor,  and  urged  the  name 
of  Rev.  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick,  then  in  the  semi- 
nary at  Bardstown  ;  but  as  Bishop  Flaget  x>rotested 
against  the  removal  from  his  diocese  of  so  learned  and 
active  a  priest,  Bishop  Fenwick  was  requested  to  for- 
ward other  names.^ 

On  the  11th  of  May,  1829,  Bishop  Fenwick  was  able 
to  open  his  seminary.  After  chanting  the  "Veni 
Creator ' '  and  offering  the  holy  sacrifice,  he  read 
the  regulations  and  made  an  earnest  address  to  the 
seminarians.  This  new  institution,  dedicated  to  St, 
Francis,  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Father  S.  H. 
Montgomery,  and  opened  with  ten  pupils,  four  in 
theology  and  six  in  the  preparatory  class. 

'  Bishop  Fenwick  to  Arclibishop  Marechal,  May  26,  1826. 

'BuUarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  Rome,  1841,  v.,  pp.  36-7. 

3  Cardinal  Somaglia  to  Bishop  Fenwick,  Aug.  6,  1825,  July  15,  1826. 
Bishop  Fenwick  to  Archbishop  Marechal,  May  12,  1826. 


354       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Having  thus  provided  for  a  future  supply  of  priests 
to  meet,  in  part,  the  wants  of  his  diocese.  Bishop  Fen- 
wick  set  out  for  Green  Bay,  which  lie  reached  on  the 
eve  of  Ascension  Day.  In  1825  Rev.  Vincent  Badin 
had  extended  his  labors  to  Mackinac,  Drummond's 
Island,  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  Green  Bay,  and  Arbre  Croclie. 
But  his  mission  was  too  short  to  produce  much  per- 
manent fruit,  and  an  impostor  named  Fauvel,  pre- 
tending to  be  a  priest,  misled  many  at  Green  Bay. 
Bishop  Fenwick  drove  the  wolf  from  the  fold.  He 
celebrated  mass  and  gave  a  series  of  instructions  to 
increase  the  knowledge  and  revive  the  faith  of  the 
people.  Mackinac  was  the  next  field  of  his  apostolic 
labor,  rewarded  by  sixty  communions.  At  Arbre 
Croclie,  where  the  energetic  Dejean  had  reared  his 
-church  of  jouncheons,  lif ty-four  feet  by  thirty,  and  a 
house  beside  it,  visible  from  afar.  Bishop  Fenwick  was 
received  Avith  great  pomp  and  hearty  welcome  by  Chief 
Assakinac  and  his  tribe.  The  piety  of  the  Indians, 
no  less  than  the  evidence  of  their  industry  and  tem- 
perance, with  their  progress  in  the  ways  of  civilization, 
delighted  their  spiritual  Fatlier.  About  this  time  the 
Catholic  Indians  at  Grand  River  Rapids  appealed  to 
the  Governor  against  the  decision  to  give  land  only 
for  the  Protestant  mission,  and  against  the  constant 
payment  of  Protestant  missions,  while  the  band  was 
Catholic'  After  confirming  150  at  Detroit  the  Bishop 
sent  his  companion  Rev.  Mr.  Mullon  to  Portland, 
Sandusky,  and  Tiffin,  while  he  himself  visited  St. 
Paul's,  Monroe,  on  Raisin  River,  and  Port  Clinton 
before  his  return  to  Cincinnati.^    He  took  back  with 

'  Letter  of  Louis  Miukterje,  Francis  Migissinini,  and  others,  Aug.  12, 
1826. 

^  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  vi.,  p.  76  ;  viii,  p.  382.  U.  S  Catholic 
Magazine,  vi.,  97-100  ;  xVunales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  iv.,  p.  515, 


GERMAN  CONGREGATIONS.  355 

him  two  Indian  boys  whom  he  proposed  to  send  to  the 
College  of  the  Propaganda. 

Through  the  instrumentality  of  Rev.  F.  Reze, 
Bishop  Fenwick  had  secured  two  zealous  German 
priests,  who  began  to  make  a  list  of  their  Catholic 
countrymen  in  the  State.  They  found  them  every- 
where, at  Cincinnati,  Somerset,  Lancaster,  and  the 
ringing  words  of  God's  ministers  in  the  accents 
familiar  to  them  from  the  cradle  woke  all  the  religion 
implanted  in  these  German  hearts  by  pious  parents  at 
home.  One  of  these  itinerant  priests  was  Rev.  John 
Martin  Henni,  a  name  to  be  known  in  time  as  founder 
of  the  first  German  Catholic  paper,  first  Bishop  in 
Wisconsin,  first  Archbishop  of  Milwaukee.  Then 
busy  with  plans  for  a  school  and  orphanage  at  Cincin- 
nati ;  for  a  convent  of  Dominican  Sisters  whom  he 
intended  to  establish  at  Somerset ;  churches  that  he 
purposed  erecting  at  Hamilton,  Urbana,  Tiffin  and 
Clinton,  forming  a  line  of  occupation  from  Cincinnati 
to  Lake  Erie  ;  a  college  in  his  episcopal  city,  the  Bishoi^ 
of  Cincinnati  set  out  for  Baltimore  to  meet  his  metro- 
politan and  fellow  suffragans,  and  concert  measures 
for  giving  solidity  and  strength  to  the  fabric  which 
each  diocese  was  rearing  to  God's  glory. ^ 

486-490,  521.     Fauvel  had  been  refused  ordination  in  Rome.     Cardinal 
Cappellari  to  Bishop  Edward  Fenwick,  Aug.  8,  1829. 

'  lb.,  p.  532.     Hammer,  "  Der  Apostcl  von  Ohio,"  pp.  52-92. 


BOOK  II 

FORMER  PROVINCE  OF  SANTIAGO  DE  CUBA. 


CHAPTER   L 
DIOCESE  OF  LOUISIANA  AND  THE  FLORIDAS. 

RT.  REV.  LOUIS  WILLIAM  DU  BOURG, 
SECOND  BISHOP,  1815-1826. 

The  condition  of  religion  in  the  diocese  of  Louisiana 
and  the  Floridas  was  not  encouraging  in  1815  when 
the  V.  Rev.  Mr.  Du  Bourg  resolved  to  proceed  to 
Rome  to  explain  it  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  Al- 
though Florida  was  really  part  of  the  diocese,  Sx:)ain, 
on  the  cession  of  Louisiana,  directed  the  Bishop  of 
Havana  to  resume  authority  in  that  province,  and 
this  was  done  without  any  express  sanction  from  the 
Pope.  In  the  Louisiana  portion  of  his  diocese  seven 
out  of  fourteen  parishes  were  vacant,  the  V.  Rev. 
Administrator  having  only  ten  priests,  some  far  ad- 
vanced in  years,  some  utterly  unfit  to  exercise  the 
ministry.  Father  Anthony  Sedella  in  the  Cathedral 
of  New  Orleans,  with  two  other  scandalous  priests, 
defied  or  evaded  authority  and  claimed  to  hold  his 
office  by  virtae  of  a  popular  election  called  by  the 
Common  Council.  Sedella  had  yielded  a  kind  of 
recognition  of  Dr.  Du  Bourg' s  authority  as  Adminis- 
trator, but  when  notice  was  given  to  him  of  his  in- 
tended departure  for  Rome  and  his  appointment  of 
Rev.  Mr.  Sibourd  as  Vicar-General  during  his  absence, 
Sedella  at  once  questioned  the  right  of  the  Adminis- 

356 


RT.    REV.    LOUIS   WILLIAM   DU   BOURG,    BISHOP   OF   LOUISIANA 
AKD  THE   FLORIDAS. 


357 


THE   URSULINES.  359 

trator  to  leave  the  diocese  or  appoint  a  Vicar-General.^ 
The  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Du  Boiirg  soon  after  sailed  for 
Bordeaux  with  misgivings  as  to  the  results  which 
might  follow  in  Louisiana,  but  convinced  of  the  im- 
portance of  having  a  Bishop  at  once  appointed,  who 
could  appeal  to  France  and  other  parts  of  Europe  for 
aid  in  priests  and  means. 

Sedella  and  his  party  soon  resorted  to  a  new  line  of 
tactics  :  they  resolved  to  petition  Congress  to  incorpo- 
rate the  trustees,  and  make  them  free  from  any  inter- 
ference of  a  bishop  in  the  appointment  or  removal 
of  priests  or  the  management  of  the  temporalities. 
AVliile  all  this  scheme  was  in  progress  an  outward 
deference  to  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Sibourd  was  maintained, 
though  Sedella  was  careful  to  avoid  addressing  him  in 
writing,  or  in  any  way  recognize  his  title. 

The  ancient  Ursuline  convent  had  prospered  under 
the  care  of  the  Abbe  Olivier,  Rev.  Mr.  Sibourd,  and 
the  V.  Rev.  Administrator.  After  the  retirement  of 
part  of  the  community  to  Havana,  the  Sisters  reor- 
ganized with  Mother  Teresa  Farjon  as  Superior.  In 
1810,  the  little  community  opened  its  doors  to  receive 
a  reinforcement  from  France,  led  by  Mother  St.  Mi- 
chael Gensoul,  an  Ursuline  nun,  who  had  been  driven 
by  the  French  Revolution  from  her  convent  of  Pont 
St.  Esprit,  and  had  opened  an  academy  at  Montpelier. 
Invited  to  New  Orleans  in  1804,  and  encouraged  by  a 
letter  of  Pope  Pius  VII.,  she  gathered  a  party  of  young 
ladies,  anxious  to  devote  themselves  to  religion,  and 
embarked  for  Philadelphia.  At  Baltimore,  Arch- 
bishop Carroll  detained  the  whole  party  to  prevent 
their  being  exposed  to  the  summer  heat  in  New  Or- 


'V.  Rev.  L.  W.  Du   Bourg  to  Archbisliop  Carroll,  April  21,  1815; 
Dec.  11,  1815  ;  same  to  Rev.  A.  Sedella,  May  3,  1815. 


360       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

leans.  They  entered  the  convent  on  the  last  day  of 
December.  Mother  Gensoul  was  at  once  placed  at  the 
head  of  the  academy.  Before  long-  she  became  Supe- 
rior, and  governed  with  great  ability,  animated  by  the 
spirit  of  God,  a  fervent  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart, 
and  confidence  in  Our  Lady  of  Prompt  Succor,  a  de- 
votion which  she  zealously  propagated.  She  was  the 
soul  of  the  community  till  her  death,  March  19,  1822. 

Several  of  the  nuns  at  this  time  belonged  to  the  rule 
of  the  Presentation  of  Our  Lady,  and  finding  it  better 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were,  tliis 
rule,  with  the  authority  of  V.  Rev.  Dr.  Du  Bourg,  was 
formally  adopted,  January  16,  1813. 

Meanwhile  V.  Rev.  Dr.  Du  Bourg  had  reached 
Rome,  and  on  his  representing  the  state  of  the  dio- 
cese the  Propaganda  carried  out  the  plan  already 
formed  of  appointing  him  Bishop.  This  was  done  on 
the  18tli  of  September,  1815,  and  as  all  preparations 
had  been  made  he  was  consecrated  on  the  24th  by 
Cardinal  Joseph  Doria  Pamfili,  Bishop  of  Porto,  in 
the  Church  of  St.  Louis  of  the  French.  The  conse- 
crator  was  assisted  by  Rt.  Rev.  Gabriel  de  Pressigny, 
Bishop  of  St.  Malo,  then  Ambassador  from  France, 
and  Rt.  Rev.  Francis  X.  Pereira,  Bishop  of  Ter- 
racina.^ 

Now  actually  Bishop  of  Louisiana,  successor  of 
Mgr.  Penalver,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  could  give  his 
representative  at  New  Orleans  indisputable  powers. 
He  evidently  at  this  time  desired  to  return  at  once  to 
his  diocese,  as  soon  as  he  had  made  arrangements  to 
meet  its  w^ants.  One  great  necessity  was  a  religious 
community  to  take  charge  of  a  theological  seminary 


'  Rev.  L.  Sibourd  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Dec.  10,  1815  ;  Bishop  Fen- 
wick's  "  Memoirs." 


THE  LAZARISTS.  361 

and  supply  missionaries.  His  old  associates  of  the 
Company  of  St.  Siilpice,  he  knew,  could  spare  no 
members  for  Louisiana.  There  was,  however,  at  Rome 
a  house  of  the  Priests  of  the  Mission,  a  congregation 
founded  in  France  by  St.  Vincent  de  Paul.  Struck 
by  the  saintly  qualities  of  Father  Felix  de  Andreis, 
the  Bishop  of  Louisiana  resolved  to  secure  him  as  the 
superior  of  a  band  of  missionaries  of  that  congrega- 
tion. After  many  difficulties  he  succeeded,  and  on 
the  21st  of  October,  Rev.  John  Baptist  Acquaroni  and 
Joseph  Rosati,  Lazarists  ;  Rev.  Joseph  Pereira,  ajniest 
who  had  solicited  admission  into  their  community  ; 
Leo  Beys,  a  Propaganda  student,  and  a  lay  brothei-, 
after  an  audience  with  the  Pope,  set  out  for  Marseilles  ; 
Father  Be  Andreis,  after  obtaining  books,  vestments, 
and  church  plate,  followed  on  the  15tli  of  Becember 
with  one  priest  and  two  seminarians.  At  Bordeaux 
they  were  joined  in  the  following  May  by  Bishop  Bu 
Bourg.  The  whole  party  of  missionaries  reached 
Baltimore  in  the  scorching  days  of  July,  and  late  in 
November  were  in  Bardstown  there  to  await  the  com- 
ing of  Bishop  Bu  Bourg. ^ 

That  prelate,  meanwhile,  w^as  endeavoring  to  obtain 
in  France  needed  aid  for  his  diocese,  as  well  as 
a  religious  community  to  open  an  academy  of  a 
higher  order  at  St.  Louis.  As  Lyons  he  insiDired 
Mme.  Petit,  a  pious  widow,  Avho  had  once  resided  in 
Baltimore,  to  form  a  little  association  in  which  a  small 
weekly  payment  would  be  made  to  aid  his  missions. 
From  this  and  a  similar  little  association,  founded  by 
Mademoiselle  Pauline  Marie  Jaricot  to  give  aid  to 
the  laborers  in  Asia  belonging  to  the  Society  of  the 

'  Sketches  of  the  Life  of  V.  Rev.  Felix  de  Andreis,  Baltimore,  1861. 
pp.  48-100,  where  the  agreement  between  the  Bishop  and  the  Superior 
of  the  Lazarists  will  be  found. 


362       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Foreign  Missions  at  Paris,  grew  the  Association  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  finally  organized  in 
Lyons,  May  3,  1822,  under  V.  Rev.  Mr.  Inglesi,  then 
Vicar- General  of  Bishop  Du  Bonrg,  a  priest  in 
whose  strange  career  his  part  in  establishing  this 
great  association  for  the  aid  of  the  Catholic  mis- 
sions throughout  the  world  is  almost  a  redeeming 
trait. 

In  his  visits  to  different  cities  of  France  Bislioj)  Du 
Bourg  sought  postulants  for  his  Ursuline  community. 
All  that  offered  were  directed  to  the  convent  of  that 
order  in  Bordeaux,  where  their  vocation  was  tested. 
Nine  were  deemed  to  have  a  real  call  to  the  religious 
life  and  to  possess  health  for  the  undertaking.  These 
reached  the  convent  at  New  Orleans,  January  3,  1817. 
Three  nuns  of  the  ancient  convent  of  Quebec  subse- 
quently joined  the  house  in  New  Orleans  to  share 
their  life  of  poverty  and  labor. 

The  Superior  of  the  Ursulines  had  laid  before  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  the  condition  of  the  convent,  its 
trials  and  vicissitudes,  and  had  been  encouraged  to 
l^ersevere  by  the  successor  of  St.  Peter. ^ 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  proposed  a  division  of  the 
diocese  and  the  erection  of  a  see  in  Upper  Louisiana, 
but  the  report  which  reached  him  of  Sedella's  persis- 
tent rebellion,  the  attempt  of  the  trustees  to  obtain  a 
charter  absolutely  depriving  the  Bishop  of  his  cathe- 
dral, as  well  as  open  menaces  of  violence  had  so  alarmed 
him  that  he  earnestly  solicited  the  Propaganda  to  be 
allowed  to  take  up  his  residence  at  Saint  Louis,  and 
establish  his  seminary  and  other  educational  institu- 

'  Letter  of  Rev.  Mother  Mary  Olivier  to  Pope  Pius  VII. ,  May  2,  1815  ; 
Pope  Pius  VII.  to  the  Ursulines,  Oct.  16,  1815  ;  Circular  letter  sent 
through  V.  Rev.  Dr.  Du  Bourg.  "  Les  Ursulines  de  Quebec,"  iii., 
p.  532. 


BISHOP  DU  BOURG'S  FEARS.  363 

tions  in  that  part  of  his  diocese.^     Copies  of  his  bulls 
and  of  the  certilicate  of  his  consecration  had  been  pre- 
sented to  Sedella  to  be  filed  in  the  archives  of  the 
cathedral,  but  that  wretched   man  declared   that  he 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Pope  or  bishops  of  his 
making,  and  handed  the  papers  to  one  of  the  trustees, 
who  took  them  to  a  cafe,  where  he  made  them  the  sub- 
ject of  scoffs  and  insults  to  religion.     Bishop  Du  Bourg 
assured  the  Propaganda  that  "all  who  knew  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  agreed  in  declaring  that  it  would  be 
an  inexcusable  temerity  on  his  part,  and  fatal  to  relig- 
ion, to  attempt  to  land  at  New  Orleans.     As  for  my- 
self, knowing  better  than  any  other  the  place  and  the 
men,  I  must  declare  that  I  do  not  feel  the  fortitude 
to  expose  myself  to  the  consequences  of  such  a  step." 
As  no  provision  had  been  made  for  a  bishop  at  St. 
Louis,   he  proposed  to  remain  in  France  till  Bishop 
Flaget  had  prepared  the  way  and  ascertained  the  state 
of  feeling  in  regard  to  him.^    Pressed  by  the  Propa- 
ganda to  proceed  to  his  diocese  he  pleaded  for  delay 
till  he  had  definite  knowledge  on  this  point ; '  for  even 
there  many  abandoned  and  irreligious  men  had  com- 
bined against  the  zealous  clergy,  and  by  slander,  by 
exciting  discontent  and   schisms,  and  even  by  open 
violence  had  succeeded  in  driving  priests  away  from 
parishes  confided  to  them  ;  clergymen  were  shut  out 
of  their  houses,  and  more  than  once  put  in  dugouts 
and  sent  adrift  on  the  river.*    Conscious  of  all  this, 
Bishop  Du  Bourg,  who  was  naturally  timid,  wished 


'  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  Cardinal  Dugnani,  April,  1816. 

*  Same  to  same,  June  24,  1816. 

*  Same  to  same,  Jan.  or  Feb.,  1817. 

•»  "  Relation  de  cequi  est  arrive  a  deux  Religieux  de  la  Trappe,  pen- 
dant leur  sejour  auprds  des  Sauvages."    Paris,  1824,  p.  129. 


364       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

some  assurance  of  the  reception  he  was  to  meet.  To 
relieve  his  mind  of  responsibility  he  had  solicited  a 
canonical  transfer  of  Florida  to  the  Bishop  of  Havana, 
who  was  actually  in  control  though  without  canonical 
authority ;  but  the  Holy  See  was  reluctant  to  make 
ecclesiastical  jurisdictions  depend  on  political  changes. 
Meanwhile  he  had  collected  in  France  and  Belgium  a 
Tmw  band  of  missionaries,  comprising  two  priests  from 
Rome  and  more  than  twenty  ecclesiastics,  as  well  as 
funds  and  necessaries  for  his  diocese.  The  king  of 
France  not  only  gave  the  Bishop  of  the  old  French 
province  aid  and  encouragement,  but  placed  at  his 
disposal  the  frigate  Caravane  to  transport  him  and  his 
l^arty  to  America.^  Bishop  Du  Bourg  embarked  on 
this  vessel  at  Bordeaux  on  the  28th  of  June,  1817, 
accompanied  by  five  priests,  four  sub-deacons,  some 
seminarians,  three  Brothers  of  the  Christian  schools, 
and  other  volunteers.  They  landed  at  Annapolis  on 
the  4tli  of  September,  after  a  voyage  which  he  made  a 
mission  for  the  officers  and  men  of  the  vessel,  but  few 
of  whom  ever  reached  France  again. 

After  administering  confirmation  at  the  request  of 
the  venerable  Archbishop  Neale,  among  others  to  a 
woman  more  than  a  century  old.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  set 
out  for  his  diocese  by  way  of  Pittsburgh,  making  much 
of  the  journey  on  foot,  the  stages  being  unable  to  trav- 
erse the  wretched  roads.  At  Pittsburgh  they  took  a 
flat-boat,  on  the  19tli  of  November,  and  stopping  to 
officiate  at  Gallipolis,  reached  Louisville  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Bardstown,  where  they  were  joined  by  Bishop 
Flaget.  A  steamboat  bore  them  thence  more  rapidly  to 
Saint  Genevieve.     There  Bishop  Du  Bourg  planted  a 

'  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  Cardinal  Prefect,  May  3,  1817.  Nine  ecclesias- 
tics sailed  in  June,  1816,  four  others,  with  nine  Sisters,  in  November, 
1816.     "  Notice  siir  la  Mission  de  la  Louisiane,"  p.  13. 


INSTALLED  AT  ST.    LOUIS.  365 

cross,  chanted  the  "  Vexilla,"  and  was  able  to  address 
some  of  his  own  diocesan  flock  in  French  and  English, 
Stopping  then  at  Cahokia,  Bishop  Du  Boiirg,  accom- 
j)anied  by  Bishop  Flaget,  entered  St.  Lonis  January 
6,  1818,  escorted  by  forty  gentlemen  on  horseback, 
and  was  received  with  hearty  welcome.  Four  of  tlie 
chief  citizens  held  the  canopy  under  which  he  pro- 
ceeded to  the  church.  He  took  possession  of  the  pro- 
cathedral,  a  poor  wooden  structure  in  ruinous  condi- 
tion, being  installed  with  the  usual  solemnities  by 
Bishop  Flaget.^ 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  was  now  in  his  diocese  to  carry 
out  the  plans  which  he  had  formed.  St.  Louis  was 
to  be  the  centre  of  the  new  sj)iritual  life  of  the  dio- 
cese. For  the  seminary  under  the  Lazarists  he  had 
selected  Bois  Brule,  or  the  Barrens,  a  Catholic  settle- 
ment about  eighty  miles  from  St.  Louis,  where  the 
peojjle  showed  zeal  and  faith,  having  already  raised 
a  log  church  and  priest's  house,  under  the  guidance 
of  the  Trappist  Father  Joseph  Dunand,^  and  given 
a  large  farm  for  his  maintenance.  Hither  soon  re- 
paired the  saintly  De  Andreis  from  Saint  Genevieve, 
and  Father  Rosati,  with  his  seminarians,  from  Bards- 
town.  Rev,  Mr.  de  la  Croix,  possessing  some  knowl- 
edge of  architecture,  drew  the  j)lans  for  a  seminary 
and  church  ;  Mrs.  Hayden  and  others  of  the  Catholic 
settlers  helping  on  the  good  work  by  donations  and 
service  in  clearing  the  ground  and  preparing  the  tim- 

'  "Notice  sur  I'f^tat  Actuel  de  la  Mission  de  la  Louisiane,"  Paris, 
1820,  pp.  5-6,  13-14  ;  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  Cardinal  Prefect,  July  19, 
1817:  same  to  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute,  Pittsburgh,  Nov.  13,  1817;  Rev.  Joseph 
Rosati  to  Rome,  Feb.  7,  1818  ;  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi, 
ii.,  p.  335. 

*"  Relation  de  ce  qui  est  arrive  a  deux  Religieux  de  la  Trappe," 
p.  129. 


366      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

ber  needed.^  The  seminary  was  sixty  feet  long  by 
thirty-five  wide  and  four  stories  high.  The  study 
hall  was  on  the  ground  floor,  on  the  second  the 
chapel,  library,  and  infirmary,  while  the  upjier  floors 
were  laid  off  in  rooms  and  dormitories. 

The  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Doctrine  soon  opened 
a  boys'  school  at  St.  Genevieve.^ 

Bishop  De  Bourg,  anxious  to  secure  a  community 
of  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  a23plied  to  the  Ven. 
Madame  Barat,  the  foundress,  in  January,  1817,  but 
when  he  returned  to  Paris  he  found  that  holj^  Supe- 
rior undecided.  She  yielded,  however,  when  Madame 
Philippine  Duchesne,  who  felt  called  to  the  American 
mission,  fell  on  her  knees  before  the  Superior  and  im- 
plored her  consent  to  go.  With  Mesdames  Berthold 
and  Aude  and  two  lay  Sisters,  Mother  Duchesne  em- 
barked on  the  Rebecca  in  Marcli,  1818,  and  on  tlie 
30th  of  May  reached  the  Ursuline  convent  at  New 
Orleans.  After  a  short  rest  there  they  took  a  steam- 
boat up  the  Mississippi,  and  in  August  were  wel- 
comed by  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  amid  his  poverty,  at  St. 
Louis.  The  first  academy  was  opened  at  St.  Charles, 
but  they  obtained  no  xiupils  beyond  the  few  who 
accompanied  them  from  St.  Louis.  The  parochial 
school,  however,  grew^  rapidly,  but  after  a  trial,  at- 
tended with  much  suffering  and  w^ant,  the  Bishop  and 
Mother  Duchesne  decided  on  their  removal  to  Floris- 
sant. Here  a  brick  building  for  their  use  was  erected 
under  the  care  of  Father  Josei)h  Dunand,  Trappist, 
whose  active  zeal  deserves  especial  memory.  The  new 
academy  prospered  ;  the  work  of  zealous  priests  in 

'  "  Sketches  of  the  Life  of  Rev.  Felix  de  Andreis,"  pp.  162-3. 

'^  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  i. ,  p.  21;  Rosati,  "  Rcla- 
zione,".May  4,  1821. 


V.   REV.   FELIX  DE  ANDREIS.  367 

the  parishes  impressed  the  young  with  the  desire  to 
keep  the  laws  of  God  and  his  Church,  even  to  aspire 
to  perfection.  The  ladies  had  pupils  for  their  acad- 
emy and  school,  and  before  long  Mary  Lay  ton  applied 
to  become  a  lay  Sister.  This  first  vocation  was  soon 
followed  by  others,  so  that  Mother  Duchesne  and  her 
community  felt  a  consoling  reward  for  all  they  had 
undergone  in  the  prosj^ect  of  the  i3ermanency  of  their 
sisterhood  devoted  to  the  Sacred  Heart.  At  early  as 
1821  the  ladies  prepared  to  found  a  second  convent 
at  Grand  Coteau,  Louisiana,  where  a  charitable  con- 
vert, Mrs.  Smith,  carrying  out  her  husband's  wishes, 
gave  land  for  their  use.^  The  convent,  to  which  the 
neighboring  planters  and  the  clergy  generously  con- 
tributed, was  a  vast  brick  house,  ninety-five  feet  long- 
by  sixty  deep,  near  the  church.  It  was  built  and 
organized  by  Madame  Aude.^ 

The  zealous  labors  of  the  priests  sent  over  by  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  while  in  Euroi^e  began  to  revive  the  faith 
along  the  western  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  and  to  repair 
the  effect  of  a  long  privation  of  divine  service  and  in- 
struction on  the  word  of  God,  caused  by  the  scandals 
and  infidel  opposition  which  had  driven  many  priests 
from  their  parishes,  and  made  others  abandon  a  field 
that  seemed  hopelessly  barren.  Some  few  of  the  new 
priests  faltered  before  the  obstacles  and  difficulties  ; 
others  more  bravely  died,  victims  to  their  labors  and 
to  the  deadly  fevers,  like  Rev.  Mr.  Bighi  and  Canon 
Joseph  Caretti,     A  severer  blow  even  than  these  was 


'Baunard,  "  The  Life  of  Mother  Duchesne,  Religious  of  the  Society 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus,  and  foundress  of  the  first  houses  of  that 
Society  in  America,"  1879,  pp.  124-221. 

^  De  Sennegy,  "  Une  Paroisse  Louisianaise,"  New  Orleans,  1877,  pp. 
4&-7. 


368       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


the  death  of  the  saintly  Lazarist,  Father  Felix  de 
Andrei s,  who  after  organizing  the  community  of  the 
Priests  of  the  Mission  in  Missouri,  regulating  the 
seminary  for  the  diocese,  and  founding  a  novitiate  of 
his  order,  expired  at  St.  Louis  on  the  15th  of  October, 
1820,  in  the  odor  of  sanctity.      His  body  was  con- 


'^■■^• 


V.    KEV.    FELIX  DE   ANDREIS,    CM.,    FOUNDER  OF   THE 
LAZAKISTS  UM   THE   UNITED   STATES. 

Teyed  to  the  Barrens  and  reposes  in  the  Church  of  the 
Seminary.^ 

One  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg's  first  cares  was  to  replace 
the  church  at  St.  Louis  by  one  worthy  of  the  service 


'  Rev.  J.  Rosati,  Letter,  Feb.  7,  1818  ;   "  Sketches  of  the  Life  of  the 
V.  Rev.  Felix  de  Andreis,  pp.  165,  168-179. 


INDIAN  MISSIONS.  369 

of  God.  This  and  the  erection  of  suitable  residences 
for  bishop  and  clergy  involved  a  cost  of  twenty-live 
thousand  dollars,  but  as  only  twenty  thousand  could 
be  raised  there  remained  a  debt  which  became  a  sore 
trial  to  him. 

The  Bishop  gave  an  impulse  to  all  parts  of  the 
diocese.  New  churches  were  begun  at  Assumption, 
Thibodeaux,  Fausse  Riviere,  Pointe  Coupee,  and 
other  points,  either  of  brick  or  wood.^ 

St.  Joseph's  Church  was  erected  in  1819  on  land 
given  in  1816  by  Baptiste  Herbert.  It  is  a  wooden 
building  30  feet  by  80,  and  served  the  two  parishes  of 
Lafourche  and  Terrebonne  till  1848,  when  Rev.  C.  M. 
Menard  built  another  church  of  brick.  The  Church  of 
St.  Michael  was  erected  by  the  Acadian  parishioners 
in  1809,  on  a  site  given  bj^  the  Cantrelle  family,  and 
dedicated  on  the  10th  of  October  by  Father  Charles 
Lusson,  O.P.,  parish  priest  of  the  Ascension  at  La- 
fourche, who  also  attended  the  new  church.  The 
cemetery  had  been  blessed  the  day  before,  and  in  a 
few  months  a  bell  was  solemnly  baptized,  Pierre 
Michel,  one  of  the  deported  Acadians  of  1755,  being 
a  sponsor.^ 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  exerted  himself  to  fill  the  vacancies, 
and  to  rei^lace  careless  or  unworthy  pastors  by  priests 
of  zeal  and  courage.  Even  at  New  Orleans  he  suc- 
ceeded at  last  in  making  some  j)rogress.     The  popu- 

'  Pointe  Coupee  had  been  without  a  priest  since  the  departure  of  the 
Carmelite  Father  Brady  in  1812.  After  the  Bishop's  visit  in  1818  pro- 
vision was  made  for  a  priest,  and  Rev.  Anthony  Blanc,  who  arrived  Aug. 
3,  1820,  soon  erected  St.  Mary's  Church  at  Fausse  Riviere  on  land  given 
by  Mme.  Olinde  ;  and  also  the  new  church  at  Pointe  Coupee,  the  former 
dedicated  Oct.  19,  1822,  the  latter  Nov.  1,  1823.  Annales  de  la  Prop, 
de  la  Foi,  ii.,  p.  858  ;  Registres  de  Pointe  Coupee. 

*  De  Sennegy,  "  Cue  Paroisse  Louisianaise,"  pp.  28-31. 


370       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

lation  of  that  city  began  to  see  that  in  supinely 
permitting-  irreligious  men  to  drive  out  the  Bishop 
^permanently,  they  had  really  injured  New  Orleans 
and  reduced  it  to  a  x^lace  of  minor  consideration,  the 
important  institutions  of  the  diocese  due  to  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  being  all  clustered  in  and  around  St.  Louis. 
Even  the  contumacious  Father  Sedella  showed  signs 
of  yielding,  some  of  his  worthless  associates  with- 
drew, and  the  two  churches  in  New  Orleans  were  re- 
united, the  congregation  which  had  so  long  been 
trained  by  good  priests  at  the  Ursuline  chapel 
swelling  the  pett}^  band  that  had  controlled  the 
cathedral.^ 

The  Indians  scattered  along  the  Mississippi  had 
long  been  an  object  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg' s  missionary 
zeal,  and  incidentally  Rev.  Messrs.  Rosati,  De  Andreis, 
Father  Josepli  Dunand,  and  others,  had  labored  to 
convey  to  individaals  some  idea  of  religion,  or  revive 
and  enlarge  tlie  religious  principles  which  had  come 
down  by  tradition  from  the  days  of  the  Jesuit  missions. 
But  in  1820,  the  Osages  made  a  formal  ai)plication  to 
him  by  a  delegation  of  seven  chiefs  to  establish  a  mis- 
sion in  their  tribe.  He  made  preparations  to  visit 
them  and  begin  the  good  work  himself,  after  com- 
mending this  Indian  mission  to  the  prayers  of  his 
clergy  in  a  pastoral  letter.  Rev.  Mr.  La  Croix  visited 
the  tribe  twice  and  instructed  them  till  prostrated  by 
sickness  ;  he  baptized  forty,  and  founded  the  Catholic 
band  which  still  exists  in  the  tribe. ^ 

On  the  19th  of  November,  1820.  Bishop  Du  Bourg 

'  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute,  Oct.  4,  1819. 

"  Pastoral  Letter,  Oct.  lo,  1820,  in  "  Notice  sur  I'Etat  Actual  dela Mis- 
sion de  la  Louisiane,"  pp.  55-8  ;  • 'Annates  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,' 
i.  (ii.),  pp   51-55. 


THE  BISHOP  IN  HIS  CATHEDRAL.  371 

set  out  for  Lower  Louisiana  to  make  a  visitation.  He 
was  welcomed  at  the  Assumption  in  Bayou  La  Fourche 
by  Rev.  Messrs.  Bigeschi  and  Ticliitoli  in  the  new 
brick  church,  due  to  their  zeal.  The  Bishop  dedicated 
it  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  St.  Francis  Xavier,  and  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul.  The  parish  was  a  very  large  one, 
but  under  the  apostolic  zeal  of  the  Florentine  priest, 
Rev.  Mr.  Bigeschi,  the  communicants  numbered 
thousands.  Then  the  Bishop  stopped  at  Donaldson, 
where  Rev.  Mr.  Valezano  could  also  point  to  a  new 
church  as  the  result  of  the  awakened  faith  of  his  flock. 
Then  he  visited  St.  Jacques  and  St.  Jean  Baptiste, 
(Bonnet  Carre)  meeting  Rev.  V.  M.  Mina,  who  guided 
the  church  at  that  place  for  forty-seven  years.  At 
most  of  these  places  he  administered  confirmation, 
and  in  all  gave  a  series  of  instructions.  As  he  aj)- 
proached  New  Orleans,  Father  Sedella  and  Mr. 
Sibourd,  with  a  great  concourse  of  citizens,  came  to 
meet  him  six  miles  from  the  city. 

On  the  fourth  Sunday  of  Advent,  Christmas  Eve, 
he  attended  in  pontifical  attire  the  high  mass  which 
was  offered  by  Father  Anthony,  Messrs.  Sibourd  and 
Martial  acting  as  assistants  at  the  throne,  in  rochet 
and  camail.  On  Christmas  Day  he  said  the  midnight 
and  second  mass  at  the  convent,  and  then  celebrated 
pontifically  in  the  cathedral,  where  the  crowd  was 
greater  than  the  preceding  day. 

Thus,  after  a  long  lapse  of  j^ears,  the  successor  of 
Bishop  Penalver  was  able  to  officiate  in  his  own  cathe- 
dral. The  result  was^due  mainly  to  Rev.  Mr.  Martial 
and  his  associate  priests,  who  had  by  prudence  and 
mildness  won  many  to  hear  mass  regularly  and  ap- 
proach the  sacraments.  Younger  members  of  the 
board  of  marguillers  or  trustees  had  yielded  to  his 
influence    and    aided    his    work,    while    the    college 


372       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

which  he  had  opened  attained  an  extraordinary 
i:)opularity/ 

While  at  New  Orleans,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  held  a 
diocesan  synod,  and  was  greatly  encouraged  by  the 
zeal  and  deportment  of  the  priests  who  attended  it. 
They  agreed  to  make  a  yearly  collection  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  seminary.  This  was  absolutely  necessary 
in  order  to  increase  the  number  of  ecclesiastics  in  that 
institution  so  as  to  provide  priests  on  vacant  districts. 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  accomplished  much.  Where 
he  found  but  ten  priests,  some  superannuated,  others 
of  little  zeal  or  energy,  he  had  now  forty  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  work  of  the  ministry  ;  but  still  appeals  for 
clergymen  came  from  all  parts  of  his  immense  diocese, 
and  he  received  a  letter  from  the  banks  of  the  Columbia 
in  Oregon,  begging  him  to  send  a  priest  to  minister  to 
the  1500  Catholics  there  who  had  never  had  any  one 
to  attend  them.- 

The  Ursuline  nuns  were  more  than  once  annoyed 
by  being  summoned  to  attend  court  as  witnesses  in 
matters  with  which  they  had  no  concern.  To  prevent 
further  vexatious  acts  of  the  kind,  they  applied  to 
the  Legislature  of  Louisiana,  claiming  the  privileges 
which  they  had  enjoyed  under  French  and  Spanish 
rule.  Their  ancient  rights  were  recognized,  and  a  law 
passed  January  28,  1818,  enacted  that  where  the  testi- 
mony of  an  Ursuline  nun  was  required  it  should  be 
taken  at  tlie  convent  by  commission. 

In  1821  the  congregation  attended  immediately  from 
the  Barrens  by  the  Lazarists  consisted  of  a  hundred 
and  thirty  or  forty  Catholic  families  of  settlers,  scat- 

'  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  Jan.  1,  1821,  in  "Notice  sur  I'Etat  Actuel," 
Turin,  1822,  pp.  57-63. 

=  Rev.  J.  Rosati  to ,  May  4,  1821. 


CHURCH  IN  MISSOURI.  373 

tered  around  the  log-chnrch  which  stood  a  mile  from 
the  seminary.  The  people  were  very  exact  in  attend- 
ing to  their  religions  duties.  Catechism  and  the 
rosary  preceded  the  mass,  which  was  celebrated 
with  deacon  and  sub-deacon  on  all  feasts  of  first 
or  second  class,  the  Roman  ceremonial  being  strictly 
observed. 

New  Madrid,  a  hundred  miles  distant,  with  a  Catholic 
population  of  seventy  families,  who  had  had  no  parish 
priest  for  twenty  years,  was  attended  from  the  Bar- 
rens several  times  annually,  the  priest  remaining 
several  weeks  on  each  occasion.  Father  John  Bap- 
tist Acquaroni  attended  St.  Charles,  Portage  des 
Sioux,  and  Dardennes  ;  Father  Dahmen  of  the  same 
Congregation  had  labored  at  Vincennes  ;  De  Neckere 
and  Tichitoli  had  been  employed  in  Ascension  parish, 
Louisiana.* 

Spain  by  treaty  ceded  Florida  to  the  United  States 
on  the  22d  of  February,  1819,  and  that  ancient  prov- 
ince was  included  within  the  limits  of  the  republic. 
Bishop  Du  Bourg  was  then  able  to  extend  his  episco- 
pal care  to  that  part  of  his  diocese.  It  had  been 
governed  for  about  fifteen  years  by  the  Bishop  of 
Havana,  and  though  Bishop  Du  Bourg  endeavored  to 
make  the  administration  canonical  by  imparting 
powers,  the  Spanish  prelate  declined  to  recognize  any 
acts  emanating  from  Rome,  which  were  not  communi- 
cated through  his  own  government  and  the  Patriarch 
of  the  Indies.  Even  when  he  recalled  his  jDriests  and 
withdrew  his  jurisdiction,    he   would   not   recognize 


'  "  Anuales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  I.  (li.),  P-  52.  Rosati,  "  Rc- 
lazione,"  May  4,  1821.  Rev.  D.  J.  Doherty,  "  Address  on  the  Ceutenary 
of  the  Cathedral,"  p.  9.  The  chapel  at  Portage  des  Sioux  was  erected 
by  Father  Joseph  Dunand,  Trappist.    "  Relation,"  p.  118. 


374       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Bishop  Du  Bourg,  but  wrote  to  Bishop  Enghind  of 
Cliarleston  asking  him  to  take  charge  of  the  church 
at  St.  Augustine/ 

That  city  when  restored  by  EngUmd  to  Spain  was 
in  a  religious  point  of  view  in  a  sad  condition.  The 
few  Catholic  inhabitants  were  mainly  Minorcans,  Avho 


CHUKCH  OF   ST.    AUGUSTINE. 

had  removed  from  New  Smyrna,  with  a  few  scattered 
Indians,  the  remnants  of  the  once  prosperous  native 
missions.  Among  the  English  speaking  settlers  there 
were  probably  a  few  Catholics.  There  was  no  church  ; 
the  chapel  at  Tolomato  and  that  of  Nuestra  Senora  de 
la  Leche  were  in  rains  :  the  Franciscan  church  had 


Life  and  Times  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  pp.  555-563. 


FLORIDA.  375 

perished,  the  convent  had  been  a  barrack.  Even  the 
chapel  in  the  fort  had  been  so  defaced  that  its  original 
purpose  was  scarcely  recognizable. 

To  meet  the  wants  of  a  province  where  both  Sj^anish 
and  English  were  required,  the  King  of  Spain  sent  out 
Irish  priests,  Rev.  Thomas  Hassett  in  1784,  Rev. 
Augustus  McCaffrey,  Michael  Crosby,  and  the  Calced 
Carmelite  Father  Michael  Wallis  in  1791,  these  last  to 
erect  and  maintain  chapels  on  the  St.  John's  and  St. 
Mary's  rivers.  The  Franciscans  also  reapi)eared. 
Father  Francisco  Troconis  of  the  strict  observance 
arriving  in  1785  to  teach  the  school,  and  Father  Juan 
to  act  as  chaplain,  the  latter  succeeded  in  1791  by 
Father  Narcissus  Font. 

A  house  on  the  site  of  the  Bishop's  house,  where 
Bishops  Tejada,  Cyril,  and  Morel  had  resided,  served 
as  a  chapel  for  several  years  ;  but  when  the  king  by  a 
decree  directed  the  income  of  x^roperty  in  Havana 
belonging  to  the  Church  at  St.  Augustine  to  be  paid 
to  it,  the  Rev.  Michael  O'Reilly,  who  had  become 
assistant  to  Rev.  Thomas  Hassett,  resolved  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  erection  of  a  church  worthy  of  the 
ancient  city.  A  priest  of  zeal,  energy,  and  devotion, 
ready  to  make  sacrifices,  he  obtained  a  site  on  the 
northerly  side  of  the  Plaza  de  Armas,  and  in  April, 
1792,  blessed  the  corner-stone  of  a  large  church. 
Material  from  the  ruined  shrines  at  Tolomato  and 
Nuestra  Sefiora  de  la  Leche  was  employed  in  its  con- 
struction. 

It  rose  steadily,  a  massive,  solid  structure  of  the 
Spanish  type,  and  w^as  finally  completed  in  the  month 
of  August,  1797.  The  solemn  dedication  was,  how- 
ever, deferred  to  the  great  feast  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  when  it  was  celebrated  Avith  all  possible 
pomp.     St.  Augustine  was  thus  at  last  possessed  of  a 


376       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

parish  church  worthy  of  it,  and  destined  to  stand  as  a 
monument  of  Catholic  faith  for  a  century,  when  it 
yielded  to  the  destroying  flames.  To  this  church  in 
1800  were  transferred  the  remains  of  the  venerable 
Peter  Camps  and  Father  Narcissus  Font. 

Rev.  Michael  O'  Reilly  became  parish  priest  in  1795, 
and  labored  among  his  flock  alone  till  1802,  when  he 
was  joined  by  another  Irish    priest,    Rev.   Michael 


TOMB  OF  KEY    MICHAEL  O  REILLY,  AT   ST    AUGUSTINE 


Crosby.  The  regiment  of  Hibernia,  belonging  origi- 
nally to  the  Irish  brigade  in  the  French  service,  Avas 
stationed  in  St.  Augustine  during  this  period,  and 
names  of  Irish  officers,  0' Donovan,  Curtis,  Delany, 
Barron,  O'Reilly  appear,  though  the  rank  and  file 
included  many  from  other  countries.  The  States  on 
the  coast  from  Connecticut  to  Georgia  sent  Catholics 
by  birth,  or  converts.     Nor  were   Indians  wanting, 


REV.  MICHAEL  O'REILLY.  377 

chiefly  Uchees  and  Timiiquans,  and  in  1799  there  died 
in  St,  Augustine,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  Maria  del  Ro- 
sario  de  la  Cruz,  an  Indian  of  the  old  Tolomato 
mission. 

About  1795,  and  perhaps  earlier,  there  was  a  Royal 
Hospital  with  its  auxiliary  Church  of  Our  Lady  of 
Guadalupe  "extra  muros,"  the  attending  physicians 
being  successively  Dr.  Fitzpatrick  and  Dr.  Travers. 
The  chaplain  was  Rev.  Francisco  Troconis. 

After  a  life  of  zealous  devotion  to  duty  Rev.  Michael 
O'Reilly,  born  in  Longford  about  1762,  died  at  St. 
Augustine  in  September,  1812,  and  by  his  will  left  a 
house  to  the  parish  church  and  two  others,  which  were 
to  be  used  to  found  and  establish  a  convent  of  Sisters 
on  the  plan  of  the  Visitation.^  He  was  interred  in  the 
cemetery  at  Tolomato,  where  his  tomb  is  still  to  be 
seen.  On  his  death  Rev.  Michael  Crosby  became  par- 
ish priest,  assisted  from  1807  by  the  Rev.  John  Nepo- 
mucene  Gomez.  Rev.  Mr.  Crosby's  last  entry  in  May 
25,  1821,  but  Rev.  Mr.  Gomez  remained  till  February, 
1823,  to  minister  to  the  Catholic  flock  in  his  native 
city  ;  he  was  then  recalled  to  Havana.^  From  the  time 
the  transfer  became  known  the  population  increased 
rapidly,  the  baptisms  rising  from  148  in  1818  to  348  in 
1822.  Pensacola,  and  its  Church  of  St.  Michael,  were 
attended  from  1794  by  Rev.  James  Colman,  parish 
priest  and  chaplain  of  the  garrison,  with  occasional 
aid  from  army  or  hospital  chaplains,  down  to  Febru- 
ary, 1822,  when  he  retired  with  the  Spanish  officials. 
This  parish  was  officially  visited  by  Bishop  Cyril  of 
Barcelona,  April  3,  1791,  and  by  Rt.  Rev.  Louis  de 
Pehalver    y   Cardenas,    May  7,    1798.     Spanish    and 

1  Will  of  the  Rev.  Michael  O'Reilly,  March  1,  1803. 
^  De  Courcy,  "  La  Ville  de  St.  Augustin." 


378       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  ST  A  TES. 

Frencli,  Irish  and  Scotch  names  appear  on  the  regis- 
ters and  in  the  cemetery  showing  the  mixed  character 
of  the  population.^ 

At  Mobile  Rev.  Constantine  McKenna  was  parish 
priest  from  1792  to  1800,  succeeded  by  Rev,  John 
Francis  Vaugeois  to  1807,  and  by  Rev.  Vincent  Genin, 
\\\\o  retired  when  Spain  gave  up  possession. 

The  vast  extent  of  the  diocese  prompted  Bishop  Du 
Bourg  to  form  plans  for  erecting  a  new  ecclesiastical 
province  with  a  metropolitan  and  suffragans  Avest  of 
the  Allegheny  Mountains  :  but  his  j^lan  did  not 
meet  with  the  approval  of  the  bishops  of  the 
United  States,  and  was  abandoned.  Another  project 
was  to  divide  the  diocese  of  Louisiana  and  the 
Floridas,  establish  a  see  at  New  Orleans,  with  a 
diocese  embracing  Lower  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Ala- 
bama, and  Florida.^ 

All  these  steps  resulted  at  last  in  the  erection  by 
Pope  Pius  VII.  on  the  13th  of  August,  1822,  of  the 
Vicariate  Apostolic  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  over 
which  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  elected  Bishop  of  Tenagra, 
was  made  Vicar-Apostolic.  In  establishing  this  Vica- 
riate the  Propaganda  had  again  inadvertently  invaded 
the  rights  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  as  the 
whole  of  those  States,  except  a  small  portion  south  of 
the  31st  degree,  between  the  Perdido  and  Pearl  rivers, 
actually  belonged  to  the  diocese  of  Baltimore.  Arch- 
bishop Marechal  seems  to  have  remonstrated  promptly 
at  this  further  slight  of  his  ancient  and  primary 
diocese. 

On  the  other  hand  Father  Rosati  wrote  immediately 

'  Register  of  Pensacola. 

"^  Archbishop  Marechal  to  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  Sept.  3,  1821.  "  Rela- 
zione  delle  Missioni  degli  Stati  Uniti  d'America,"  May  1,  1821. 


NAMED  VICAR  APOSTOLIC.  379 

on  receiving  the  bull  of  his  appointment  to  avoid  the 
new  dignity.^ 

He  strenuously  represented  to  the  Propaganda  in 
the  first  place  the  paucity  and  poverty  of  Catholics 
in  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  the  priest  at  Natchez, 
unable  to  obtain  even  the  necessaries  of  life,  being 
about  to  abandon  the  place  ;  Bay  St.  Louis  too  jooor 
to  erect  the  plainest  kind  of  church  or  provide  for  a 
priest ;  Mobile  alone,  in  the  two  States,  jDossessing  a 
church,  but  there  being  no  prospect  of  resources  to 
maintain  a  bishop.  In  the  next  place  he  showed  the 
importance  of  his  remaining  at  the  head  of  the  semi- 


SIGNATURE   OF  RT.    REV.    DR.    DU   BOURG. 

nary,  no  one  of  his  associates  being  old  enough  to 
assume  the  direction.  Confiding  in  the  force  of  his 
arguments  he  continued  his  labors  as  professor  and 
superior.  At  Rome,  however,  the  plan  of  a  vicariate 
was  still  adhered  to,  and  Pope  Pius  VII.,  by  his  brief  of 
January  21,  1823,  added  Florida  to  the  newly  erected 
Vicariate.  Finally  the  arguments  of  Rev.  Mr.  Rosati 
and  the  protest  of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  pre- 
vailed. The  Brief  "  Quum  superiori  anno,"  ad- 
dressed to  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  July  14,  1823,^  revoked 
the  former  acts  and  suppressed  the   vicariate.     But 

'  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati  to  the  Propaganda,  Jan.  26,  April  3,  April  11, 
1823  ;  to  his  Superior,  May  6,  1823. 

*  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  iv.,  pp.  406,  409. 


380       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Rev.  Mr.  Rosati  was  not  to  escape  the  episcopal 
dignity.  He  was  appointed  coadjutor  of  Bishop  Du 
Bourg,  to  reside  at  St.  Louis  and  be  transferred  in 
time  either  to  New  Orleans  or  St.  Louis,  which 
were  to  be  made  episcopal  sees.^  The  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore  had  meanwhile  consented  to  give  up 
the  distant  part  of  his  diocese,  and  Mississij)pi  with 
Alabama  was  virtually  annexed  to  the  diocese  of 
Louisiana. 

Letters  from  the  Propaganda  and  a  papal  brief  of 
July  14,  1823,  showed  Rev.  Mr.  Rosati  that  he  must 
submit  to  the  dignity  he  had  sought  to  avoid.  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  was  then  in  Louisiana  and  selected  for 
the  consecration  the  Church  of  Ascension  parish  at 
Donaldson ville,  a  central  position,  where  many  clergy 
could  assemble.  After  making  a  spiritual  retreat 
with  his  worthy  fellow  religious,  Rev.  Mr.  Rosati 
was  solemnly  consecrated  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  on 
the  25th  of  March,  1824.  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Sibourd, 
y.  G.,  and  Father  Sedella,  rector  of  the  Cathedral  of 
]^ew  Orleans,  acted  as  assistants  ;  the  Rev.  Mr.  An- 
duze  preached  and  many  priests  from  neighboring 
parishes,  in  rich  vestments,  filled  the  sanctuary  and 
gave  dignity  to  the  ceremonial.-  He  was  thus  made 
Bishop  of  Tenagra  and  coadjutor  of  Bishop  Du 
Bourg.  After  visiting  the  members  of  his  community 
engaged  in  mission  w^ork  in  Louisiana,  he  ascended 
the  river  and  was  soon  among  his  brethren   at  the 

»  Bishop  Rosati  to  Cardinal  Prefect,  Dec.  6,  1823  ;  March  31,  1824. 
"  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  I.  (v.),  pp.  35-8.  From  this 
time  Bishop  Du  Bourg  took  the  name  of  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  and 
was  so  styled,  although  in  reality  the  see  of  New  Orleans  was  not 
erected  till  1826. 

*  Rev.  J;  Rosati  to  Cardinal  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  Jan.  26, 
April  3,  11 ;  May  6,  1823. 


JESUITS  FOR  MISSOURI.  381 

Barrens,  where  he  hoped  to  be  allowed  to  reside. 
Here  he  began  to  make  preparations  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  seminary  during  his  necessary  absences 
and  final  departure.  There  were  fourteen  seminarians 
besides  three  members  of  the  order  in  the  course  of 
theology.  There  were  also  some  young  men  following 
a  classical  course.  The  little  church — for  though  a 
new  one  had  been  proposed,  nothing  had  been  done — 
was  now  much  too  small  for  pontifical  ceremonies,  but 
Bishop  Rosati  began  by  administering  confirmation 
there,  before  proceeding  to  other  churches  in  the 
State  which  awaited  his  coming. 

Meanwhile  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  taking  up  the  subject 
of  the  Indian  missions,  visited  Washington  early  in 

SIGNATURE  OF  RT.   REV.   JOSEPH  ROSATI,  BISHOP  OF  TENAGRA. 

1823  and  laid  before  government  a  plan  for  the  civili- 
zation and  conversion  of  the  Indians  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. His  plan  met  with  the  favor  of  the  President 
and  the  head  of  the  Indian  department,  and  an  allow- 
ance of  $200  a  year  was  assigned  for  four  or  five 
missionaries,  to  be  increased  if  the  project  was  carried 
out  successfully.  Having  reaped  this  success,  he 
heard  that  the  Jesuit  novitiate  at  Whitemarsh  was  to 
be  broken  up  and  removed,  perhaps  disbanded.  See- 
ing in  it  a  providential  aid  for  his  Indian  work  he 
proposed  to  the  superiors  of  the  Society  to  take  the 
novices  to  Missouri.  Father  Van  Quickenborne  and 
his  novices  accepted  the  proposal  joyfully,  and  though 


382       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Archbishop  Marechal  protested,  Bishop  Du  Bourg- 
carried  his  point.  The  journey  of  the  missionaries  to 
the  West  has  been  already  tokl/  Bishop  Du  Bourg 
had  purchased  a  large  farm  near  Florissant,  and  here 
the  Jesuit  Fathers  began  their  work  in  Missouri,  by 
erecting  a  log  cabin  for  their  future  college.  To  the 
Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  the  proximity  of  a  religious 
community,  securing  them  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the 
mass  and  able  directors,  was  a  source  of  great  conso- 
lation, and  a  presage  of  the  success  of  their  work. 

Missouri  was  to  be  endowed  with  another  Sisterhood 
also,  ready  for  the  severest  labors.  The  pious  Rev. 
Charles  Nerinckx  had  been  implored  to  send  some 
Sisters  of  his  community  to  St.  Louis  to  take  charge- 
of  a  hospital  and  an  orphanage  :  some  were  also 
needed  at  the  Barrens.  On  the  12th  of  May,  1828, 
twelve  Loretto  Sisters,  with  Sister  Joanna  Miles  as 
Superior,  set  out  with  the  blessing  of  Rev.  Charles 
Nerinckx,  and  nearly  perished  by  the  sinking  of 
the  wretched  steamboat  Cincinnati,  but  fortunately 
escaj)ed  in  boats.  They  took  possession  of  their  new 
home  near  the  Barrens  on  the  14th  of  June,  and  called 
it  Bethlehem :  after  undergoing  many  privations  they 
were  consoled  by  having  a  school  and  orphanage  in 
their  log  house.  They  cut  their  own  wood,  worked 
in  the  garden,  spun  and  wove.  A  visit  from  their 
saintly  founder  encouraged  them  greatly,  and  he  at 
once  set  to  work  to  erect  a  large  frame  church  near 
the  convent.  Soon  after  he  was  stricken  down  by 
disease  and  died  at  Saint  Genevieve,  leaving  the 
Bethlehem  Sisters  the  consolation  of  having  been  the 
last  of  their  community  to  receive  his  admonitions.^' 

>  Ante,  p.  87.     "  Stato  della  Religione  degli  Stati  Uniti." 
"  Bishop  Maes,  "  Life  of  Rev.  C.  Nerinckx,"  pp.  499-565. 


NEW  URSULINE  CONVENT. 


383 


At  New  Orleans  the  Ursuline  Nuns,  finding  the 
city  too  dense  around  them,  and  a  street  about  to  be 
opened  through  their  grounds,  determined  to  erect  a 
new  convent  outside  of  New  Orleans  on  property  which 
they  possessed,  and  where  Rev.  Mr,  Martial  had  for 
some  time  directed  a  college.  The  new  building  was 
completed  in  1824.  Some  sisters  took  up  their  abode 
there  at  once  in  no  little  fear  and  alarm,  but  the  com- 
munity removed  to  it  in  September.  One  nun  of  80, 
who  had  not  been  outside  the  convent  walls  since  she 
took  the  veil  in  1766,  could  scarcely  be  persuaded  to 
leave  her  home  and  enter  a  carriage.     She  made  the 


THE  NEW   URSULliiE   CONVENT,   NEW  ORLEANS. 


journey  in  tears.  The  old  Ursuline  Convent  became- 
the  residence  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg,  and,  recently 
restored,  is  still  that  of  his  successor.  Here  the  Bishop 
proposed  to  open  a  college. 

The  convent  had  from  its  foundation  taken  charge- 
of  thirty  orphan  girls  who  were  a  charge  to  the  city, 
but  in  1824,  induced  by  enemies  of  the  Ursulines,  the- 
authorities  resolved  to  remove  them,  and  place  them^ 
in  the  Poydras  asylum.  Before  their  separation  the 
Nuns  prepared  all  who  were  old  enough  to  make  their 


384       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

first  communion,  which  they  received  at  the  midnight 
mass  on  Christmas,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  making  a  touch- 
ing address  on  the  occasion.^ 

After  his  appointment  as  coadjutor,  a  part  of  the 
original  diocese  of  Louisiana  and  the  Floridas  was 
sj)ecially  confided  to  Bishop  Rosati.  It  embraced  the 
State  of  Missouri  with  the  territory  of  Arkansas,  as 
well  as  western  Illinois,  of  which  Bishop  Flaget  had  in- 
duced the  Bishop  of  Louisiana  to  assume  the  direction. 
The  parishes  or  missions  in  Missouri  were  St,  Louis, 
where  in  November,  1825,  there  was  but  a  single  priest ; 
the  church  begun  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  during  his  resi- 
dence was  still  unfinished,  financial  troubles  having 
•driven  away  some  and  prevented  others  from  meeting 
their  subscriptions.  The  trustees,  sued  personally  for 
the  building  debts,  sought  permission  from  the  State 
to  sell  the  Bishop's  house  and  other  property  to 
indemnify  themselves.  The  condition  of  the  Church 
in  the  city  where  Bishop  Rosati  was  to  reside  was, 
therefore,  by  no  means  encouraging. 

The  creditors  in  St.  Louis  finally,  in  1822,  sold  a 
large  part  of  the  church  property,  including  the 
Bishop's  residence,  the  parochial  house,  and  a  build- 
ing in  course  of  construction  for  an  academy ;  the 
purchasers  gave  Bishop  Rosati  a  time  in  which  to 
redeem  it,  and  to  secure  means  he  dispatched  to 
Europe  the  Rev.  Francis  Neil  in  the  hope  that  gen- 
erous Catholics  there  would  enable  him  to  save  the 
property.  He  scarcely  dared  hope  that  aid  enough 
would  be  given  to  secure  property  to  support  the 
Bishop  or  prepare  for  the  erection  of  a  college.  Car- 
ondelet,  or  Vide  Poche,  with  its  hundred  families  of 
French  origin,  was  attended  every  Sunday  from  St. 

'  Bishop  Rosati  to  Rev.  Mr.  Baccari,  June  14,  1824. 


STATE  OF  RELIGION.  385 

liouis,  when  that  city  had  several  x^riests,  but  was  now 
■deprived  of  all  priestly  service.  At  Florissant  Father 
Yan  Quickenborne,  who  had  lost  his  associate  priest 
of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  directed  his  five  scholastics, 
training  them  for  the  priesthood,  taught  his  school  of 
Indian  boys,  and  performed  parochial  duty.  Beside 
all  this  he  acted  as  chaplain  to  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  who  had  a  convent  and  academy  erected  by 
him.^  St.  Charles  on  the  Missouri,  Portage  aux  Sioux, 
Dardennes,  Cote  sans  Dessein,  St.  Michael's,  and  the 
Lead  Mines  were  all  destitute  of  priests  ;  the  church 
at  the  last  place  was  attended  occasionally  from  St. 
Genevieve,  which  had  a  resident  pastor.  The  congre- 
.gation  around  the  Barrens  consisted  of  about  two 
hundred  families  attended  by  one  of  the  three  priests 
at  St.  Mary's  Seminary.  Here  there  were  sixteen 
students,  eight  in  theology,  some  of  whom  occasion- 
ally preached.  A  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  Semi- 
nary was  the  Lorettine  Convent,  now  containing 
seventeen  Sisters,  with  some  postulants.  Though 
struggling  with  great  poverty,  they  maintained  a  free 
school  and  supported  twenty-four  orphans. 

New  Madrid,  with  eighty  French  families,  had 
neither  church  nor  priest. 

In  Illinois,  Kaskaskia  had  150  families  ;  Prairie  on 
Rocher,  one  hundred,  the  church  there  being  under 
the  care  of  Rev.  Donatien  Olivier,  now  seventy-five 
years  old  and  almost  blind,  who  expected  soon  to 
retire  to  St.  Mary's  Seminary  ;  O'Hara's  Settlement 
liad  a  growing  English-speaking  flock,  eager  for  a 
priest,  and  Cahokia,  an  old  French  village,  had  a 
church  and  an  aged  priest. 


'  De  Smet,  "Western  Missions  and  Missionaries,"  New  York,  1859, 
p.  467. 


386       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Bishop  Du  Bourg,  disheartened  by  his  struggles  in 
Missouri,  believed  that  little  could  be  effected  there, 
and  that  more  was  to  be  hoped  for  in  Louisiana,  to 
which  he  now  urged  Bishop  Rosati  to  remove,  but 
the  latter  clung  to  the  State  where  he  had  begun  his 
labors.^ 

In  1824  R,ev.  John  M.  Odin,  CM.,  accompanied  by 
Rev,  John  Timon,  then  in  subdeacon's  orders,  set  out 
on  a  missionary  journey  by  way  of  New  Madrid,  the 
definitive  point  being  Arkansas  Post,  where  the  Catho- 
lics had  long  been  without  mass  or  sacraments.  Near 
Davidsonville  and  at  Little  Rock  they  found  Catho- 
lics who  had  never  seen  a  priest.  On  the  Arkansas 
River  was  a  cluster  of  sixteen  Catholic  families  who- 
reported  that  mass  had  twice  been  offered  there.  Ar- 
kansas Post  was  the  only  place  after  leaving  New 
Madrid,  where  there  were  enough  Catholics  to  main- 
tain a  priest.  Everywhere  the  missionaries  had  to- 
begin  by  teaching  grown-up  children  to  make  the 
sign  of  the  cross  and  recite  the  Our  Father,  the 
Hail  Mary,  and  the  Creed.  The  poor  people  had  en- 
deavored to  keep  up  the  faith  and  given  private  bap- 
tism to  their  children,  but  unfortunately  this  was 
seldom  done  in  a  valid  form.  The  celebration  of  holy 
mass  was,  for  most  of  those  they  found,  a  wonderful 
ceremony.^ 

During  this  same  year,  Bishox^  Rosati  made  visita- 
tions and  missionary  excursions  in  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souri, confirming  sixty  in  St.  Louis,  forty  in  Cahokia, 
and  forty  at  Florissant,  where  he  gave  minor  orders  to- 

'  Bishop  Rosati  to  Cardinal ,  Nov.  1,  1825. 

*  "  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  ii.,  pp.  374,  etc.;  Deuther, 
"Life  and  Times  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  Timon,  D.D.,"  Buffalo,  1870,  pp. 
33,  etc. 


STATE  OF  RELIGION.  387 

three  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  and  baptized 
two  Indians.^ 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  fitted  up  a  few  rooms  in  the  old 
Ursuline  convent  for  his  own  occupation  and  that  of 
his  Vicar- General  and  two  priests.  The  rest  he  rented 
to  Rev.  Mr.  Portier,  who  aided  by  three  other  ecclesi- 
astics opened  a  college,  which  soon  had  thirty-six 
boarders  and  one  hundred  and  forty  day  scholars.^ 

While  in  upper  Louisiana  he  had  seen  the  wants  of 
the  Catholics  in  that  part  of  his  diocese,  and  placed 
priests  where  needed  ;  but  on  taking  up  his  residence 
at  New  Orleans,  Bishop  Du  Bourg  found  the  desola- 
tion of  the  sanctuary  so  much  greater  that  he  began 
to  summon  priests  from  up  the  Mississippi,  to  the  dis- 
may of  Bishop  Rosati,  who  saw  himself  unable  to  fill 
the  vacancies.  The  burthen  fell  upon  him  and  on  the 
little  communities  of  Jesuits  and  Lazarists. 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  visited  the  Attakapas,  Yermillion- 
ville.  Grand  Coteau,  and  Opelousas.  Then  accom- 
panied by  Rev.  Mr.  Anduze  he  made  his  way  to 
Avoyelles,  nearly  drowned  while  crossing  a  bayou  on 
a  tree.  Here  he  found  Rev.  Mr.  Martin  zealously  at 
work  organizing  a  parish  ;  he  had  no  fixed  home,  and 
a  rude  chapel  whicli  he  had  reared  with  nothing  but 
a  few  boards  on  trestles  for  an  altar.  The  people  had 
never  had  a  resident  priest,  and  he  had  to  rehabilitate 
fifty  couples  married  before  a  magistrate.  The  church 
at  Natchitoches  had  been  destroyed  by  fire  three  years 
before  ;  the  people  had  not  seen  a  priest  for  four  years 
or  received  any  regular  instruction  for  fifteen.  The 
nearest  church  was  one  in  the  old  Spanish  town  of 
-Adayes.     It  needed  a  stout  mission  worker  to   raise 

'U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  iii.,  p.  333. 

'  "  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  it.,  p.  407. 


388       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

a  cliurch  here  and  another  at  the  Spanish  post  of 
Kempte.  Bishop  Du  Bourg  arrived  at  Natchitoches 
just  in  time  to  give  the  last  sacraments  to  Mile,  de 
Mezieres,  grand-daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans.^  In 
May  he  visited  Mobile  on  the  east ;  but  he  was  soon 
relieved  of  this  part  of  his  charge.  Pope  Leo  XII. 
on  the  26th  of  August,  1825,  erected  the  State  of  Ala- 
bama and  the  Floridas  into  a  Vicariate  Apostolic  and 
assigned  to  it  Rev.  Michael  Portier,  who  was  created 
Bishop  of  Oleno.^ 

But  Bishop  Du  Bourg  had  become  discouraged  and 
convinced  that  another  might  accomplish  more  than 
he  possibly  could.  He  transmitted  his  resignation  ta 
Rome,  urging  its  acceptance  with  such  earnestness, 
and  such  apparently  good  reasons,  that  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  accepted  it  As  this  was  an  event  not  pro- 
vided for  in  the  arrangement  already  made,  His  Holi- 
ness on  the  18th  of  July,  1826,  divided  the  diocese  of 
Louisiana,  and  established  the  See  of  New  Orleans 
with  the  State  of  Louisiana  as  its  diocese,  the  Vicari- 
ate Apostolic  of  Mississippi  to  be  administered  by  the 
Bishop  of  New  Orleans.  The  country  north  of  Louisi- 
ana was  made  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  Bishop  Rosati 
being  transferred  to  that  see  from  Tenagra,  and  ap- 
pointed temporarily  Administrator  of  New  Orleans.^ 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  thus  laid  down  the  charge  which 
as  Administrator  and  Bishop  he  had  held  for  eleven 
years.  It  was  not  the  state  of  his  health  which  com- 
pelled him  to  take  this  step,  but  because,  as  he  him- 
self declared,  "  it  was  evident  my  presence  would  be 

'  "  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  iii.,  p.  501. 

^  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  p.  46  :  Bullarium  Magnum, 
XV.,  p.  593. 

*  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v. ,  pp.  19,  20. 


STATE  OF  RELIGION.  389 

more  prejudicial  than  useful."  A  priest  of  judgment, 
Rev.  Mr,  Borgna,  wrote:  "We  have  just  received 
intelligence  of  the  resignation  of  Mgr.  Du  Bourg.  No 
one  exj)ected  this  change.  Yet  all  who  know  that 
most  worthy  prelate  praise  his  resolve  and  rejoice  to 
hear  it.  It  was  time  to  put  an  end  to  his  sufferings, 
and  just,  above  all,  that  in  the  decline  of  his  life  he 
may  enjoy  a  little  peace  and  repose.  The  prejudice 
against  him  in  this  city  is  so  strong,  this  sewer  of  all 
vices  and  refuge  of  all  that  is  worst  on  earth,  that  in 
spite  of  all  his  sacrifices  and  all  his  exalted  ability,  he 
could  not  have  effected  any  good  here.  The  very 
name  of  Du  Bourg  has  an  irritating  sound  in  the  ears 
of  a  great  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  new  Baby- 
lon. You  cannot  imagine  all  the  abominations  which 
fill  the  newspapers  of  this  city."  ^ 

No  such  prejudice  existed  against  his  coadjj.itor,  and 
Bishoj)  Du  Bourg  felt  that  in  retiring  he  rendered  an 
essential  service  to  the  Church.  He  bade  farewell  to 
New  Orleans,  for  whose  spiritual  good  he  had  labored, 
and  which  beheld  him  depart  without  the  slightest 
sign  of  regret  or  repentance.  On  reaching  St.  Louis 
he  was  received  with  the  highest  public  honors. 
Thence  he  proceeded  to  New  York,  where  on  the  1st 
of  June  he  took  a  steamer  for  Havre,  before  the  fact 
of  his  resignation  was  generally  known. ^ 

Bishop  Du  Bourg  was  a  man  of  vast  projects  and 
rendered  essential  services  to  religion  in  the  United 
States ;  but  the  task  imposed  upon  him  beyond  the 
Mississippi  was  far  too  great,  and  naturally  timid, 
little  versed  in  business  methods,  he  was  discouraged 
at  the  difficulties  which  arose  to  thwart  him,  and  con- 

1  Rev.  Philip  Borgna,  C.  M.,  New  Orleans,  Oct.  17,  1826. 

2  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  vi.,  p.  87  ;  Truth  Teller,  ii.,  p.  182. 


390       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

fronted  by  bitter  malevolence  he  at  last  lost  all  heart 
and  energy.' 

He  had  found  Louisiana  in  a  most  destitute  cond- 
tion.  He  left  it  with  twenty  parishes,  nearly  all 
attended  by  good  young  priests,  under  whom  piety 
had  been  revived,  churches  and  schools  erected. 
These  were  Terre  aux  BcEufs  below  New  Orleans, 
New  Orleans  with  its  cathedral,  Ursuline  chapel,  and 
mortuary  chapel,  and  four  priests  ;  St.  Charles  under 
Rev.  Mr.  Savin  ;  St.  James,  opposite  St.  Michel  with 
its  convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart ;  Ascension,  Iberville, 
Baton  Rouge  under  Rev.  A.  Blanc,  who  also  attended 
Pointe  Coupee.  Inland  were  Assumption  with  an 
Ursuline  convent  and  St.  Joseph,  and  to  the  north- 
east Opelousas,  Attakapas,  Vermillionville,  and  the 
Grand  Coteau  with  its  Sacred  Heart  convent ;  Avo- 
yelles and  Natchitoches  under  Rev.  J.  B.  Blanc.  In 
all  but  two  of  these  the  priests  were  stationed  by 
Bishop  Du  Bourg.^ 

He  had  not  imparted  the  fact  of  his  resignation  even 
to  Bishop  Rosati,  who  heard  the  first  rumors  with  in- 
credulity. Even  late  in  October,  1826,  he  had  no  cer- 
tain knowledge  of  the  new  duties  which  had  devolved 
upon  him  or  the  complications  created  by  the  resigna- 
tion.^ Yet  at  Rome  he  was  regarded  as  Bishop  of 
Louisiana,  and  they  were  considering  the  necessity  of 
assigning  him  a  coadjutor  or  dividing  the  diocese. 

On  the  4th  of  November,  Bishop  Rosati  received 
the  bulls  of  Pope  Leo  XII.  appointing  him  to  the  new 
see  of  New  Orleans.  He  wrote  to  the  Pope,  to  the  Pre- 
fect and  Secretary  of  the  Propaganda,  declining  the 

'  "  Annales  de  Propagation  de  la  Foi,"  iii.,  p.  517. 

''Mgr.  J.  Rosati,  Bishop  of  Tenagra,  to  V.  Rev.  Francis  Baccari,  Oct. 
.20,  1826  ;  same  to  Mgr.  Pietro  Caprana,  Nov.  11,  1826. 


THE  SEE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS.  391 

appointment,  and  explaining  that  since  his  appoint- 
ment as  coadjutor  lie  had  labored  in  Missouri,  Illinois, 
and  Arkansas,  where  he  was  known,  and  where  from 
his  knowledge  of  English  he  could  preach  with  some 
iluency,  while  in  Louisiana  he  was  comparatively 
unknown  to  the  clergy  and  people,  and  by  no  means 
sufficiently  versed  in  French  to  address  the  inhabitants 
with  fruit.  Moreover  his  health  had  always  been 
affected  by  the  climate  of  Louisiana.  He  earnestly 
Tequested  to  be  allowed  to  decline  the  appointment. 
He  urged  the  selection  of  Rev.  Leo  de  Neckere,  a  Bel- 
gian Lazarist,  as  coadjutor,  till  it  was  deemed  proper 
to  make  him  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  and  besought 
the  intervention  of  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  have  this 
effected.^ 

Meanwhile  Bishop  Rosati  resumed  the  erection  of  a 
cathedral  at  St.  Louis,  ordained  three  priests  educated 
in  his  seminary,  published  the  jubilee,  and  was  grati- 
fied at  the  rich  harvest  gathered,  especially  by  the 
instructions  of  Rev.  Mr.  Odin.  He  then  made  a 
journey  to  Kentucky  on  horseback  to  consult  Bishops 
Flaget  and  David  on  the  affairs  of  the  Church.  After 
this  excursion  he  proceeded  to  Louisiana,  where  much 
was  to  be  done.  He  found  Rev.  Mr.  De  Neckere  in 
liigh  esteem  with  clergy  and  people,  having  been  in- 
cited by  the  Legislature  to  pronounce  a  discourse  on 
the  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  New  Orleans.^  Bishop 
Rosati  made  a  canonical  visitation  at  the  Ursuline 
convent,  and  gave  confirmation  in  several  parishes. 
He  was  afflicted  by  the  departure  of  one  of  the  most 
zealous  priests  in  Louisiana,  Rev.  Mr.  Bigeschi,  who 

1  Bishop  Du  Bourg  to  Cardinal  Prefect,  May  1,  1827. 

'  Bishop  Rosati  to  V.  Rev.  Antonio  Baccari,  Vicar  General  of  the 
Congregation  of  the  Mission,  Jan.  6,  March  18,  1827. 


392      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

had  revived  the  faith  and  piety  in  three  different  con- 
gregations, successively  confided  to  him,  and  estab- 
lished a  community  of  Sisters  to  open  schools  for 
girls.  ^ 

At  length  the  letters  apostolic  of  March  20,  1827, 
arrived  and  Bishop  Rosati,  to  his  great  relief,  found 
that  he  vs^as  to  remain  at  St.  Louis  as  Bishop,  although 
charged  for  a  time  with  the  administration  of  New 
Orleans.  He  then  only  awaited  the  return  of  Rev. 
Mr.  De  Neckere  from  Europe  to  appoint  him  Vicar- 
General  at  New  Orleans.^ 

'  Same,  April  6,  1827. 

*  Bishop  Kosati  to  Propaganda,  July  14,  1837  ;  Bullariuin  de  Propa- 
ganda Fide,  v.,  p.  25,  "  Quum  post  acceptas." 


SEAL  OF  BISHOP  ROSATI. 


RT.    REV.    JOSEPH   ROSATI,   CM.,   FIRST   BISHOP   OF   ST.    LOUIS. 


394 


CHAPTER  II. 

DIOCESE  OF  ST.  LOUIS. 

ET.  KEY.  JOSEPH  ROSATI,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1827-1829,  ADMINISTRATOR 
OF  NEW  ORLEANS,  1827-1830. 

After  the  erection  of  the  see  of  St.  Louis,  Pope 
Leo  XII.,  on  the  20th  of  March,  1827,  appointed 
Bishop  Rosati,  who  had  been  coadjutor  of  Louisiana, 
to  the  new  see,  and  made  him  at  the  same  time  Ad- 
ministrator Apostolic  of  the  newly  erected  diocese  of 
New  Orleans,  and  of  the  Vicariate  Apostolic  of  Miss- 
issippi.^ 

Joseph  Rosati,  son  of  John  Rosati  and  Vienna 
Soresi,  was  born  at  Sora,  Italy,  January  13,  1789. 
Feeling  himself  called  to  the  ecclesiastical  state,  he 
obtained  admission  after  his  classical  course  to  the 
College  of  the  Propaganda  in  Rome,  then  directed  by 
the  Priests  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission.  His 
virtues  and  abilities  soon  led  to  his  being  received  into 
their  religious  community  by  his  directors,  and  he 
was  made  a  prefect  in  the  College :  but  before  he  had 
completed  his  intended  course  of  ecclesiastical  study, 
the  Lazarists  were  expelled  from  the  College  by  the 
French.  The  Sovereign  Pontiff  permitted  him.  al- 
though he  was  under  the  canonical  age,  to  receive  the 
holy  order  of  j)riesthood  in  order  to  accompany  the 
Very  Rev.  Felix  de  Andreis  as  a  missionary  to 
America. 

After  a  farewell  to  his  parents  he  set  out  with  the 

'  "  Quum  post  acceptas."  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  p.  25  ; 
"  Apostolatus  OflBcium,"  lb.,  p.  47. 

395 


396       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

blessing  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  In  Missouri  he 
evinced  the  ability  and  learning  required  to  guide 
young  levites,  as  well  as  the  courage  and  endurance  of 
a  missionary.  Once  when  going  to  attend  a  sick  call, 
Father  Rosati's  horse  fell,  and  he  rose  with  a  broken 
arm,  but  he  kept  on  and  attended  the  person  who  had 
solicited  his  ministry,  before  he  had  his  fracture 
treated.  On  his  deathbed  the  venerable  Father  de 
Andreis  selected  him  as  Superior  of  the  Lazarists  in 
the  United  States.^ 

The  diocese  of  St.  Louis,  as  created  by  Pope  Leo 
XII.  July  14,  1826,  contained  at  most  8000  Catholics. 

In  August,  1827,  he  visited  the  ancient  town  of  Kas- 
kaskia,  where  he  was  received  with  all  honor  by  the 
Catholic  population.  Here  he  confirmed  fifty-five  ; 
and  by  his  zealous  preaching  revived  piety.  On  the 
8tli  of  September  the  Rev.  F,  X.  Dahmen,  pastor  of 
St.  Genevieve,  received  him  in  the  church  of  that  place, 
where  a  class  had  been  prepared  for  confirmation. 
The  next  Sunday  he  was  at  Florissant,  where  he  or- 
dained to  the  priesthood  Fathers  Yerreydt,  Van 
Assche,  P.  J.  De  Smet  and  Elet  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 
After  administering  confirmation  here  he  j)roceeded 
to  St-  Charles,  Portage  des  Sioux,  and  Carondelet.  On 
his  return  he  visited  the  new  convent  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  founded  near  St.  Louis  by  the  munificence  of 
Mr.  John  Mullanphy,  the  religious  undertaking  to 
maintain  a  free  school  and  support  twenty  orphan 
girls.  He  then  crossed  the  Mississippi  to  extend 
his  visitation  to  Cahokia  and  Prairie  du  Rocher. 
Returning  to  Missouri  he  proceeded  to  Old  Mines 
and  Mine  a  Burton  or  Potosi.  On  the  4th  of  Nov- 
ember he  ordained  Rev.  A.  Mascheroni  at  the  Barrens. 

'  II  Poliorama  Pittoresco,  March  9,  1844. 


HIS   VISITATION.  397 

He  was  soon  after  summoned  to  New  Orleans  to 
settle  some  difficulties  and  make  a  visitation.  He  left 
the  Seminary  at  the  Barrens  in  November,  and  at  St. 
Genevieve  embarked  with  Rev.  A.  Mascheroni  on  the 
steamboat  North  America.  Just  below  New  Madrid 
the  boat  struck  a  sawj-er  and  went  down.  Bishop 
Rosati  and  his  comjDanions  were  for  five  days  on  the 
shore  before  another  boat  came  along  and  enabled 
them  to  continue  the  journey.  After  a  short  stay  at 
New  Orleans  he  visited  the  Church  of  the  Ascension 
at  Donaldsonville,  under  Rev.  Mr.  Tichitolo  ;  the  brick 
Church  of  the  Assumption  at  Bayou  La  Fourche,  Rev. 
John  Caretta  ;  St.  Joseph's,  then  with  Terre  Bonne 
under  the  spiritual  care  of  Rev,  Mr.  Audizio.  Then 
he  crossed  the  Mississippi  to  St.  Gabriel's,  where  the 
zealous  priest  Rev.  Eugene  Michaud  was  founding  a 
college  for  the  education  of  his  young  men.  Baton 
Rouge,  the  churches  of  St.  John  and  St.  John  the 
Baptist  at  Bonnet  Carre  were  next  visited.  His 
confirmations  at  these  different  points  numbered 
about  300,  and  would  have  been  greater  had  longer 
notice  been  had  of  the  welcome  though  unexpected 
visit.' 

On  the  8tli  of  January,  the  anniversary  of  his  great 
victory,  General  Jackson  was  received  with  great  honor 
at  New  Orleans  ;  a  Te  Deum'  was  chanted  in  the  Cath- 
edral, and  a  patriotic  sermon  preached  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Ganilh.-^ 

Bishop  Rosati  stationed  a  priest  at  Natchez,  which 
had  long  been  without  one  from  the  indifference  of 
the  people.^ 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  vii.,  p.  222. 

-  lb.,  viii.,  p.  191.     Register  of  St.  Gabriel,  Jan.  5,  1828. 

2  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  vii.,  p.  252,  374. 


398       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Early  in  February  he  gladdened  the  Ursuline  Nuns 
and  their  hundred  boarders  by  appearing  among  them. 
He  continued  his  apostolic  journey  to  St.  John's. 
Church,  Vermillion ville,  St.  Martin's,  and  Grand  Co- 
teau.  Here  he  confirmed  in  the  parish  church  and  the^ 
fine  convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  where  he  baptized 
three  converts  to  the  faith. 

On  the  4tli  of  March  he  dedicated  the  elegant  and 
spacious  church  of  St.  Landry,  preaching  in  French 
and  English.  By  way  of  Donaldsonville  he  next  x^ro- 
ceeded  to  the  Convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart  at  St. 
Michael's,  where  he  celebrated  Palm  Sunday.  It  was 
a  prosperous  institution  with  seventeen  religious  and 
sixty  boarders.     Here  he  gave  the  habit  to  four  novices. 

At  New  Orleans  he  twice  administered  confirmation 
in  the  city,  and  also  at  the  Ursuline  Convent,  where  a 
novice  made  her  ^Drofession.  Other  labors  then  en- 
gaged his  attention,  and  it  was  not  until  the  month  of 
June  that  he  reached  Missouri.  He  was  not,  however, 
to  rest,  for  we  see  him  confirming  at  St.  Genevieve 
and  St.  Louis,  ordaining  a  priest,  then  dedicating  the 
fine  stone  church  erected  by  Y.  Rev.  Charles  Yan 
Quickenborne,  at  St.  Charles,  and  blessing  the  ceme- 
tery ;  then  he  crossed  the  Mississippi  once  more  ta 
extend  his  visitation  to  Illinois. 

St.  Louis  had  now  an-  hospital,  due  to  the  gener- 
osity of  John  Mullanphy,  Esq.,  who  gave  houses  and 
lots  for  the  purpose,  and  other  property  to  afford  it 
some  revenue.  Four  Sisters  of  Charity  from  Emmits- 
burg,  Maryland,  were  already  in  St.  Louis  to  begin 
their  devoted  labors. 

Indian  mission  work  was  pushed  by  the  Jesuit 
Fathers,  and  by  Rev.  Mr.  Lutz,  who  had  started  to 
found  a  station  among  the  Kansas. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  Church  in  the  two 


TRUSTEEISM  CONDEMNED.  399 

dioceses  and  vicariate  apostolic  covering  Missouri, 
Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  part  of  Illinois, 
whose  wants  Bishop  Rosati  was  struggling  to  meet.^ 
The  absence  of  a  resident  bishop  at  New  Orleans 
was  soon  felt.  The  trustees  of  St.  Louis  Cathedral 
endeavored  to  secure  the  passage  of  a  law,  utterly  sub- 
versive of  the  discipline  of  the  Catholic  Church,  vest- 
ing in  them  the  right  to  appoint  and  remove  priests. 
A  similar  claim  made  at  Philadelphia  had  been  con- 
demned by  Pope  Pius  VII. ,  and  Bishop  Con  well  had 
been  reproved  for  even  indirectly  admitting  it.  At 
New  Orleans  the  wardens,  who  claimed  the  cathedral 
as  representing  the  Catholics  of  New  Orleans,  had  not 
bought  the  ground  or  erected  the  church,  the  site 
having  been  given  by  the  King  of  Spain,  and  the 
church  put  up  by  Sehor  Almonaster  under  an  agree- 
ment with  the  King.  Bishop  Rosati  laid  the  matter 
before  Pope  Leo  XII.,  who  in  his  Brief  "  Quo  longius  " 
confirmed  the  letters  apostolic  of  Pope  Pius  VIL 
against  the  trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Church.  "  This 
being  the  state  of  the  case,"  says  the  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
"  what  shall  we  say  of  the  trustees  of  the  church  of 
New  Orleans,  who  endeavor  to  renew  the  audacious 
misconduct  of  Philadelphia,  and  who  obstinately  op- 
pose our  apostolic  decision,  of  which  they  are  surely 
not  ignorant  ?  Did  Christ  give  his  Church  to  trustees 
or  to  bishops  to  be  ruled  by  them  ?  Shall  sheep  lead 
the  shepherd,  and  not  the  shepherd  the  sheep  ?  Are 
not  those  who  scheme  to  abolish  episcopal  rights  and 
rend  asunder  the  universal  discipline  of  the  Church, 
clearly  liable  to  the  infliction  of  canonical  penalties  ?  " 
The  Pope  expressed  the  hope  that  if  the  trustees  per- 


'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  viii.,  p.  191.     Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la 
Foi,  iii.,  pp.539,  564. 


400       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

^severed  in  their  mad  course,  every  legislative  body 
would  reject  their  petition  for  subverting  Catholic  dis- 
cipline, and  not  aid  them  to  deprive  a  bishop  of  his 
cathedral  canonically  established  by  the  authority  of 
the  Pope  and  the  King  of  Spain,  when  ruler  of  the 
country.^ 

The  fomenter  of  the  troubles  in  the  Church  of  New 
Orleans  soon  after  passed  away,  though  the  evil  spirit 
did  not  perish  with  him.  On  the  19th  of  January, 
1829,  Father  Anthony  Sedella  died  apparently  in  full 
•communion  with  the  Church,  but  his  funeral  was  a 
grand  civil  parade,  and  the  lodges  of  Freemasons 
attended  by  a  special  order  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  the 
State.  The  secular  papers  extolled  his  virtues  and 
declared  him  a  saint.  He  was  the  last  survivor  of  the 
old  Capuchin  mission  of  Louisiana,  and  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  a  faithful  Catholic  cannot  share  the 
opinion  as  to  his  merit  created  by  those  strangers  to 
her  discipline,  spirit,  and  laws.^ 

'  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.  p.  42. 

2  Louisiana  Advertiser,  Jan.  24,  1829  ;  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  viii., 
pp.  247,  261.  The  expressions  of  the  remarkable  order,  and  the  mere 
fact  of  its  issue,  leave  little  room  for  doubt  that  Father  Sedella  was,  in 
defiance  of  the  laws  of  the  Church,  a  Freemason,  and  one  in  high 
standing. 


RT.   REV.  MICHAEL  PORTIER,  V.A.,  AND  BISHOP  OP  MOBILE. 


402 


CHAPTER  III. 

VICARIATE  APOSTOLIC  OF  ALABAMA. 

BIGHT  REV,  MICHAEL  PORTIEE,  BISHOP  OP  OLENO,  VICAE 
APOSTOLIC,  1826-1829. 

When"  the  bulls  appointing  Rev.  Michael  Portier 
Bishop  of  Oleno,  and  Vicar  Apostolic  of  the  newly 
•created  Vicariate  of  Alabama  and  the  Floridas, 
reached  that  clergyman,  he  was  at  the  head  of  a  pros- 
perous college  which  he  had  organized  in  the  old 
Ursuline  Convent  at  New  Orleans.  He  had  come  to 
this  country  a  deacon  in  1817  with  Bishop  Du  Bourg. 
Raised  to  the  priesthood  in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis, 
he  had  been  employed  on  the  mission  in  New  Orleans, 
before  he  opened  the  college. 

Aware  of  the  difficult  task  required  to  organize  the 
Church  in  Alabama  and  Florida,  he  wrote  at  once  to 
Rome  to  decline  the  appointment.  He  was,  however, 
required  to  accept  the  burthen,  and  the  bulls  were 
again  forwarded.  He  accordingly  i^roceeded  to  St. 
Louis,  and  after  making  a  month's  retreat  in  the  Semi- 
nary, was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Louis 
Bishop  of  Oleno,  by  Bishop  Rosati,  on  the  5tli  of 
November,  1826. 

He  set  out  at  once  for  his  vicariate,  stopping  at  New 
Orleans  to  settle  up  his  affairs.  He  landed  at  Mobile 
on  the  20th  of  December. 

Besides  the  ancient  settlements  of  Mobile,  Pensacola, 
and  St.  Augustine,  there  were  a  few  scattered  Catholics 
in  Northern  Alabama,  at  Huntsville,  Florence,  andTus- 
cumbia,  who  had  been  visited  three  years  before  by  Rev. 

403 


404       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Mr.  Abell  from  Kentucky.^  Bishop  Portier  proclaimed 
the  Jubilee  at  Mobile  and  Pensacola,  and  began  the 
exercises  of  amission  to  prepare  the  faithful  to  benefit 
by  the  great  advantage.  There  were  but  two  priests 
in  his  vicariate,  and  as  they  belonged  to  the  diocese  of 
New  Orleans,  they  might  be  recalled  at  any  moment. 
The  priest  in  charge  of  the  Church  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception  at  Mobile  was  the  Rev.  A.  Ganilh,  to 
whom  the  trustees  (for  an  act  of  incorporation  was 
promptly  obtained  after  the  change  of  flag)  had  voted 
a  salary  of  $800.  The  church  was  old  and  needed 
repair.  A  record  of  the  church  shows  that  it  possessed 
a  monstrance,  two  chalices  and  patens,  a  ciborium, 
a  pyx  for  the  Viaticum,  basin,  cruets  and  bell,  holy 


^  ^^/h^J^cu^  e^^  ^>-/C^ 


SIGNATURE   OF  BISHOP  PORTIER. 

water  pot,  censer  and  incense  boat,  a  tabernacle  key, 
oil  stocks,  baptismal  shell,  two  vases,  two  candlesticks, 
and  a  processional  cross — in  all  eleven  articles,  all  of 
silver.  There  were  six  sets  of  vestments,  one  black 
and  two  colored  copes,  all  in  poor  condition.  The 
church  owned  some  property,  althougli  part  of  it 
seems  to  have  been  held  adversely  to  its  claims.  The 
income  from  the  pews  ranged  from  $120  to  $190. 

On  the  27th  of  December,  1826,  the  trustees  resolved 
to  lease  the  old  grave-yard  to  Bishop  Portier  for  $230 
a  year  for  twenty-one    years,  on  condition  that  he 

'  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  ii.,  pp.  417  ;  U.  S.  Catholic 
Miscellany,  vi  ,  pp.  286,  303, 


DANGEROUS  ILLNESS.  405 

should  build  a  church  on  it,  and  give  a  bond  to  trans- 
fer it  to  his  successor.  It  was  certainly  a  strange 
arrangement  that  a  bishop  should  be  expected  to  build 
a  church  and  yet  pay  ground  rent  to  the  trustees  of 
the  congregation,^  for  Bishop  Portier  estimated  the- 
Catholics  of  Mobile  at  ten  thousand. ^ 

After  a  stay  of  some  length  at  Pensacola,  which  had 
declined  greatly,  and  where  Rev.  Constantine  Maen- 
haut  had  been  pastor  from  October,  1823,  Bishop  Por- 
tier set  out  on  horseback  June  12,  1827,  to  make  his 
way  to   St.  Augustine.     After  twelve  days'  solitary 
travel,  without  a  guide,  he  reached  Tallahassee,  where 
he  had  the  happiness  of  saying  mass.    The  room  was 
soon  filled  with  Protestants,  who  listened  respectfully 
to  his  discourse.     The  city  was  but  four  years  old  and 
contained  few  Catholics,   but  a  generous   Irishman 
offered  his  bishop  a  site  for  a  church.     After  baptizing^ 
some  children  he  pursued  his  journey  to  St.  Augus- 
tine.    A  few  moments  after  his  arrival  there  he  was 
waited  upon  by  the  trustees  of  the  church,  who  offered 
him  a  house  and  everything  suitable  to  his  character. 
Charmed  with  this  courteous  reception  he  visited  the 
church  the  next  day,  and  officiated  pontifically  on 
Sunday.     The  church  was  filled,  there  being  a  general 
anxiety  to  see  the  Catholic  bishop.     He  delivered  a. 
sermon  in  English,   and  announced  that  every  day 
after  his  mass  he  would  teach  a  class  of  those  old 
enough  to   make  their  first  communion.     The  sick, 
were  all  visited  in  turn.     Bishop  Portier,  however, 
had  overtaxed  his   strength  ;  the  long  journey,   and 
constant  application  in  the  summer  heats,  brought  on 
a  fever,  which  soon  assumed  a  dangerous  form.     la 


1  Proceedings  of  Trustees,  Jan.,  1823,  to  Dec.  27,  1826. 
» Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  iv.,  p.  74. 


406        THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

his  lucid  intervals,  when  free  from  delirium,  he  read  on 
the  countenances  of  those  by  him  that  no  hope  was 
entertained.  The  thought  of  dying  without  the  aid 
of  the  sacraments  oppressed  him,  but  nature  rallied, 
he  recovered,  though  excessive  weakness  remained. 
It  was  the  end  of  August  before  he  was  able  to  resume 
his  duties.  Then  for  two  weeks  he  preached  a  mission 
in  English  and  Spanish,  with  separate  instructions 
for  the  young,  and  closed  with  a  general  communion. 
One  hundred  and  twenty  received  the  Holy  Eucharist, 
and  there  were  fifty  first  communicants ;  ninety-five 
were  confirmed.  He  baptized  sixty  children  during 
his  stay  at  St.  Augustine. 

He  left  that  city  on  the  22d  of  September,  and  on 
his  homeward  journey  found  some  Catholics  to  whom 
he  ministered.  The  priests  at  Mobile  and  Pensacola, 
who  had  remained  till  this  time,  then  returned  to  New 
Orleans,  and  the  Bishop  was  left  alone  in  his  vicari- 
ate. To  add  to  his  trials  the  church  at  Mobile  was 
utterly  destroyed  by  fire  before  the  end  of  the  month 
of  October. 

At  his  earnest  appeal,  the  Bishop  of  Charleston  sent 
to  St.  Augustine  the  Rev.  Edward  F.  Mayne,  an  able 
priest,  trained  at  Mount  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  who 
labored  zealously  in  that  city  and  in  the  scattered 
stations  on  the  coast  as  far  as  Amelia  Island. 

Without  priests  or  resources  of  any  kind,  Bishop 
Portier,  who  took  up  his  residence  at  Mobile,  labored 
on  till  April,  when  he  made  his  way  to  New  Orleans  in 
order  to  embark  for  Europe,  and  see  what  aid  he  could 
obtain.^ 

1  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  iv.,  pp.  71-112 ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscel- 
lany, viii.,  pp.  54,  95,  103,  374,  167  ;  viii.,  pp.  166,  278. 


BOOK  III. 

CHAPTER   I. 

THE  FIRST  PROVINCIAL  COUNCIL  OF  BALTIMORE,  1829. 

When  the  original  diocese  of  Baltimore  was  divided 
by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  in  1808,  and  Archbishop  Car- 
roll two  years  later  convened  his  newly  consecrated 
suffragans,  it  was  the  wish  and  intention  of  all  to 
assemble  in  a  Provincial  Council  at  an  early  day,  and 
a  time  was  actually  appointed.  The  political  events 
in  Europe  wdiich  resulted  in  the  seizure  of  the  Sover- 
eign Pontiff  Pins  VII.,  and  his  removal  from  Rome 
wdth  his  cardinals  as  prisoners,  prevented  Archbishop 
Carroll  from  obtaining  the  sanction  of  the  Holy  See 
for  the  convocation  of  a  council. 

When  the  subject  of  holding  a  Provincial  Council 
was  subsequently  taken  up,  oi^nions  differed.  Bis- 
hop Cheverus  wrote:  "I  cannot  see  even  now  any  nec- 
essity of  holding  the  council,  and  I  cannot  help  even 
doubting  the  expediency  of  it."  ^ 

The  death  of  Bishop  Egan  of  Philadelphia,  followed 
by  that  of  Archbishop  Carroll,  and  the  feeble  health 
of  his  successor  Archbishop  Neale,  prevented  any 
further  steps  being  taken.  After  Archbishop  Mare- 
chal  received  the  pallium,  new  sees  were  established 
at  Richmond,  Charleston,  and  Cincinnati,  and  the 
vacant  sees  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  having 
been  already  filled,  the  holding  of  a  council  became  a, 

'  Bishop  Cheverus  to  Archbishop  Carroll,  Jan.  5,  1813 
407 


408       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

subject  of  discussion  between  Arclibishoi)  Mareclial 
and  his  suffragans.  The  Metropolitan  evidently  con- 
sidered it  most  j)rudent  to  wait  till  Bishops  Conwell, 
England,  and  Kelly  should  acquire  some  personal 
knowledge  of  the  actual  condition  of  their  dioceses, 
and  of  the  rules  of  discipline  to  be  adopted  which 
could  be  practically  enforced  in  this  country. 

Bishop  Conwell  during  the  Hogan  trouble  expressed 
a  desire  for  a  provincial  council ;  and  for  several 
years  it  was  the  constant  burthen  of  the  correspond- 
ence addressed  to  the  Metropolitan  by  Bishop  Eng- 
land. He  wrote  strongly  in  1825  urging  it  especially, 
in  order  to  obtain,  by  the  united  action  of  the  episco- 
pate in  a  council,  regulations  in  regard  to  nominations 
to  sees,  which  would  prevent  foreign  interference  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Church  in  this  country. 

Archbishop  Mareclial  was  fully  alive  to  the  impor- 
tance of  holding  a  Provincial  Council,  and  as  early  as 
1823,  Pope  Pius  VII.  addressed  a  brief  to  him  in  re- 
gard to  the  convocation  of  such  a  synod  in  the  United 
States.^  The  Archbishop  then  drew  up  the  project  of 
a  Provincial  Council,  but  his  declining  health  pre- 
vented his  gathering  the  suffragan  bishops  of  the 
province  with  their  theologians  in  his  cathedral.  At 
his  death,  however,  the  affair  was  so  far  advanced  that 
Archbishop  Whitfield,  finding  the  project  prepared  by 
his  predecessor,  submitted  it  to  the  Holy  See.*  Leo 
XII.,  by  his  Brief  "Quo  longius,"  August  16,  1828, 
aj)proved  the  plan. 

Several  of  the  suffragans,  among  others  Bishop 
Fenwick  and  Bishop  Du  Bois,  expressed  to  the  Metro- 

'  Bishop  Conwell  to  Archbishop  Mareclial,  Feb.  5, 1821. 

*Pius  VII..  "  Non  sine  magno,"  Aug.  3,  1823. 

^Artaud,  Histoire  du  Pape  Pie  VIII.     Paris,  1844,  p.  116. 


FIRST  COUNCIL  OF  BALTIMORE.  409 

politan  at  length  their  ideas  as  to  the  subjects  which 
required  general  legislation.^ 

The  bishops  belonging  to  the  jjrovince  of  Baltimore 
at  this  time  were  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Fenwick,  an 
American,  Bishop  of  Boston,  of  great  experience  as  a 
priest,  as  President  of  Georgetown  College,  and  as 
Bishop  ;  Rt,  Rev.  John  Du  Bois,  a  native  of  France, 
Bishop  of  New  York  after  nearly  forty  years  in  the 
active  discharge  of  the  ministry,  founder  of  Mount 
St.  Mary's  College  and  Seminary,  long  Director  of  the 
Sisters  of  Cliarity  ;  Rt.  Rev,  Henry  Conwell  of  Phila- 
delphia, who  was  represented  by  the  able  and  expe- 
rienced Administrator  of  the  diocese,  V.  Rev.  William 
Matthews  ;  Bishop  England  of  Charleston,  with 
several  years'  experience  in  the  country  ;  Rt.  Rev. 
Benedict  J.  Flaget,  Bishop  of  Bardstown,  and  his 
coadjutor  Rt.  Rev.  John  David,  whose  experience  in 
the  United  States  antedated  the  century  ;  and  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Edward  Dominic  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Cincinnati 
and  first  missionary  sent  to  Ohio.  Besides  these  pre- 
lates, there  were  also  in  the  United  States  two  others, 
not  suffragans  of  Baltimore,  their  dioceses  have  been 
formed  mainly  out  of  the  old  diocese  of  Louisiana  and 
the  Floridas.  These  were  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati, 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis  and  Administrator  of  New  Or- 
leans, sede  vacante,  and  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Portier, 
Bishop  of  Mobile.  It  was  proposed  to  invite  both 
these  bishops  to  attend  the  council,  saving  all  their 
rights,  in  order  to  take  part  in  the  general  consulta- 
tation  as  to  the  best  means  of  advancing  religion  in 
the  United  States,  though  before  the  council  met 
Bishop  Portier  was  made  a  suffragan  of  Baltimore. 


'  Bishop  Fenwick  to  Arclibishop  Whitfield,    Sept.  10,  1828  ;    Bishop 
Du  Bois  to  same,  1828. 


410       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Letters  were  also  addressed  to  each  one  of  the  bish- 
ops asking  him  to  state  the  subjects  which  he  deemed 
most  important  to  be  treated  in  the  council.  The 
notes  of  the  Archbishop  and  his  predecessors,  with 
these  replies,  and  documents  from  Rome  were  sub- 
mitted to  a  body  of  theologians  to  prepare  the  pre- 
liminary work  for  the  action  of  the  council. 

In  pursuance  of  the  letters  issued  by  Archbishop 
Whitfield  in  December,  1828,  to  his  suffragan  bishops 
convoking  a  Provincial  Council  on  the  first  day  of  Oc- 
tober, 1829,  the  venerable  members  of  the  Catholic 
hierarchy  in  the  United  States  began  to  arrive  in  Bal- 
timore toward  the  close  of  September. 

The  Right  Rev.  B.  J.  Flaget,  last  survivor  of  the 
bishops  consecrated  by  Archbishop  Carroll,  arrived 
with  Bishop  Rosati  on  the  19th  of  September,  and 
took  up  his  residence  with  his  old  associates  of  St. 
Sulpice  at  their  seminary.  Then  came  Bishop  Fen- 
wick  of  Boston.  Rt.  Rev.  Edward  Dominic  Penwick, 
Bishop  of  Cincinnati,  with  Rev.  William  Matthews, 
Vicar  Creneral  Apostolic  of  Philadelphia,  soon  came 
by  way  of  Washington.  Rt.  Rev.  John  England, 
Bishop  of  Charleston,  who  now  stood  next  in  the 
order  of  seniority,  reached  Baltimore  Sept.  30,  deeply 
gratified  to  see  the  council  he  had  so  long  desired, 
convened  at  last.  These  constituted  the  Fathers  of 
this  first  important  council.  Bishop  Du  Bois  of  New 
York  and  Bishop  Portier  of  Mobile  being  absent  in 
Europe.^ 

At  a  preliminary  meeting  held  September  30,  in  the 
house  of  Archbishop  Marechal,  certain  rules  were 
established,    that  no  regulation   should   be   adopted 

'  It  was  not  known  to  the  Fathers  of  tlie  Council  that  Rev.  Leo  de 
Neokerc  had  been  appointed  on  August  4,  1839,  to  the  See  of  New  Or- 
leans ;  Buliaiium  de  Prop.  Fide,  v.,  pp.  46-7. 


FIRST  COUNCIL   OF  BALTIMORE.  411 

that  could  not  easily  be  enforced  ;  that  no  decree 
should  be  printed  till  the  api)roval  of  the  council  by 
the  Holy  See  was  given ;  that  no  matter  should  be 
brought  before  the  council  except  those  already  agreed 
upon  by  the  Archbishop  with  the  consent  of  the 
Fathers,  unless  by  a  two-thirds  vote  ;  that  a  session 
should  be  held  every  morning  at  ten  in  the  Cathedral, 
beginning  on  October  4. 

Besides  the  Bishops  and  Administrators,  the  Very 
Rev.  Francis  Dzierozinski,  Superior  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus  in  the  United  States,  Very  Rev.  Joseph  Car- 
riere.  Visitor  of  the  Society  of  St.  Sulpice,  attended 
as  well  as  Very  Rev.  John  Tessier,  Rev.  Louis  Deluol, 
iind  John  B.  DamxDhoux,  Doctors  of  the  theological 
faculty  of  St.  Mary's,  theologians  of  the  Archbisho}), 
Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick,  theologian  of  the  Bishop  of 
Bardstown,  Rev.  Simon  Gabriel  Brute,  theologian  of 
the  Bishop  of  Charleston,  Rev.  Louis  de  Barth,  theo- 
logian of  the  Bishop  of  Cincinnati,  Rev.  Augustus 
Jeanjean,  theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  Rev. 
Anthony  Blanc,  theologian  of  the  Bishop  of  Boston, 
Rev.  Michael  Wheeler,  theologian  of  the  Vicar-Gen- 
eral Apostolic  of  Philadelphia.  Very  Rev.  John 
Power,  Vicar-General  of  New  York,  was  subsequently 
invited  to  attend  the  council  as  theologian.  Bishop 
Fenwick  of  Boston  Avas  appointed  promoter  of  the 
council  ;  Rev.  Doctor  Damphoux,  Secretary,  with  Rev. 
F.  P.  Kenrick  as  Secretary ;  Rev.  John  J,  Chanche, 
Master  of  Ceremonies,  who  appointed  Rev.  Francis 
Lhomme  and  John  Randanne  chanters.  The  tirst 
public  congregation  Avas  held  on  the  3d,  the  bishops 
and  doctors  in  rochet  and  cape,  the  priests  in  sur- 
plice.^ 

1  Truth  Teller,  v.,  p.  350  ;  Baltimore  Gazette. 


412       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  next  day  witnessed  the  most  imposing  Catholic 
ceremonial  ever  yet  held  in  the  city  of  Baltimore. 
After  the  Bishops  in  mitre  and  cope,  Very  Rev.W. 
Matthews  in  cope,  forty  priests  in  chasubles, — had 
gone  in  procession  to  the  Cathedral,  and  all  had 
entered  the  sanctuary,  the  Bishops  were  arranged 
three  on  each  side,  and  a  pontifical  high  mass  was 
celebrated  by  His  Grace  the  Archbishop  of  Balti- 
more. At  the  conclusion  of  the  mass,  the  Bishox?  of 
Charleston  ascended  the  pulpit  and  delivered  an  elo- 
quent discourse  on  the  benefits  which  were  likely  to 
arise  from  the  council  then  assembled,  and  toward 
the  close  gave  a  full  explanation  of  the  ceremony  of 
the  pallium  about  to  be  conferred  upon  the  Most 
Rev.  Dr.  Whitfield.  When  the  sermon  was  con- 
cluded, the  Bishop  of  Boston  advanced  to  the  high 
altar,  and  having  taken  his  seat  in  front  of  it, 
delivered  the  pallium  to  the  Archbishop,  who  knelt 
before  him  to  receive  it,  according  to  the  Roman 
Pontifical. 

After  this  the  psalm  and  usual  prayers  were  chanted 
for  the  opening  of  the  council.  Then  the  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore  asked:  "Reverend  Fathers,  Venerable 
Brothers,  does  it  please  you,  that  for  the  glory  and 
honor  of  God,  and  the  increase  of  Catholic  faith,  the 
Council  of  Baltimore,  lawfully  convoked  and  here 
assembled,  shall  this  day  be  opened  and  commenced  ? " 
When  each  replied  :  "It  pleases  us,  let  it  be  opened," 
the  Archbishop  continued:  "Invoking  the  name  of 
Christ,  we  declare  the  holy  Provincial  Council  of  Bal- 
timore to  be  open,  and  so  judge."  The  congregations 
and  sessions  were  then  continued  till  the  18th  of 
October. 

One  of  the  incidents  of  the  council  was  the  admission 
to  the  ninth  public  congregation  of  three  lawyers  of 


FIRST  COUNCIL   OF  BALTIMORE.  413 

high  standing,  Roger  B.  Taney,  John  Scott,  and  Wil- 
liam G.  Read,  whose  oj^inion  had  been  solicited  by  the 
Fathers  of  the  Council.  All  were  men  of  note,  who 
had  appeared  before  the  solemn  bodies  and  tribunals 
of  the  country,  but  they  averred  that  on  no  occasion 
had  they  been  more  deej^ly  impressed  than  when  in- 
vited to  this  first  Catholic  Council  in  the  United  States 
to  give  expression  to  their  legal  opinion  on  the  ques- 
tions submitted,  and  give  explanations  then  orally 
requested/ 

The  Bishop  of  Charleston  was  selected  by  the  coun- 
cil to  draw  up  the  Pastoral  Letter,  after  the  topics  had 
been  agreed  iipon  by  the  bishops.  Dr.  Rosati  was 
appointed  to  prepare  the  letter  to  the  Cardinal  Secre- 
tary wliicli  was  to  accompany  the  decrees. 

On  the  18th  of  October  mass  was  celebrated  by  the 
Most  Rev.  Archbishoj)  with  the  same  ceremonies  as  at 
the  opening  of  the  Provincial  Council,  At  the  end 
of  the  mass  the  psalms  and  prayers  were  recited  for 
the  closing  of  the  council.  The  decrees  were  then 
read  and  publicly  signed  by  the  bishops,  a  table  hav- 
ing been  placed  for  the  purpose  in  the  middle  of  the 
sanctuary.  After  the  Archbishop's  blessing  the  Dea- 
con said,  "  Let  us  depart  in  peace,"  and  all  responded 
"  In  the  name  of  Christ,  Amen,"  The  bishops,  who 
had  embraced  one  another  as  token  of  their  unity  in 
faith  and  discipline,  then  retired  ;  and  the  faithful, 
who  had  crowded  every  available  spot  in  the  cathedral, 
and  had  remained  during  the  long  services,  gradually 
poured  out  of  the  edifice,  having  responded  generously 
to  the  aj)peal  for  the  orphan  asylum  made  from  the 
pulpit  by  Bishop  England. 


'  Truth  Teller,  v.,  p.  343,  350  ;   The  Metropolitan,  Baltimore,  1830,  p. 
34  ;  .Jesuit,  i.,  p.  61, 


414       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Before  leaving  Baltimore  the  bishops  i^roceeded  to 
CaiTollton  Manor  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  last  of 
the  Signers,  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton.  "  The  aged 
patriot,  though  in  his  96th  year,  appeared  to  enjoy 
perfect  health  and  to  be  full  of  life.  The  bishops  in 
the  course  of  their  visit  conversed  severally  with  him, 
and  had  full  opi)ortunity  of  witnessing  the  surprising 
retentiveness  of  his  memory,  and  how  perfectly  he 
retained  his  mental  powers." 

The  decrees  of  the  first  Council  of  Baltimore  were 
thirty-eight  in  number.  The  iirst  required  priests  to 
accept  any  mission  assigned  them  where  a  suitable 
maintenance  was  afforded,  till  recalled  by  the  Bishop. 
This  was  not  to  refer  to  any  j^arochial  benefices,  of 
which,  however,  only  one,  in  New  Orleans,^  was  known 
to  exist.  Decree  II,  required  priests  to  remain  in  the 
diocese  for  which  they  were  ordained  or  into  which 
they  had  been  permanently  received  (coaptati).  Decree 
III.  urged  bishops  not  to  receive  XJriests  coming  with- 
out full  and  ample  papers  from  their  former  dioceses. 
Decree  IV.  required  that  where  more  than  one  priest 
was  stationed,  one  was  to  be  designated  as  pastor,  the 
other  or  others  to  be  assistants.  Decree  V,  required 
in  future,  where  possible,  that  tlie  deeds  for  new 
churches  should  be  to  the  bishop.  The  churches  of 
regulars  and  those  in  the  diocese  of  Charleston  were  ex- 
cepted. Decree  VI.  declared  that  the  jus  patronatus 
and  right  of  instituting  and  dismissing  j)astors  claimed 


'  The  King  of  Spain  under  the  bull  of  Pope  Julius  II.  had  the  right  of 
patronage  in  all  his  American  possessions.  On  ceding  Louisiana  this 
ceased,  and  there  could  be  no  pretext  for  making  it  devolve  on  mar- 
guillers  who  had  never  enjoyed  the  right.  By  royal  cedula,  August, 
1793,  the  King  of  Spain  transferred  the  right  of  patronage  in  the  Church 
of  New  Orleans  to  Don  Andres  Almouaster.  Carondelet  to  Alcudia, 
Jan.  18,  1794. 


FIRST  COUNCIL   OF  BALTIMORE.  415 

by  some  bodies  of  trustees  was  repugnant  to  the  doc- 
trine and  discipline  of  the  Cliurch,  and  that  no  riglit 
of  iDatronage,  known  to  the  sacred  canons,  was  vested 
in  any  person  or  congregation  of  the  laitj^,  in  any 
board  of  trustees  or  any  other  individuals  in  the 
province.  They  further  declared  that  no  collection  of 
money  for  church  purposes  gave  any  riglit  of  patron- 
.*ige  recognized  by  canon  law.  Decree  VII.  urged 
bishops  to  recall  the  faculties  of  any  priest  instigating 
or  encouraging  such  usurpation.  Decree  VIII.  urged 
bishops  to  interdict  any  churcli  Avhere  the  congrega- 
tion, trustees  or  others,  retained  any  priest  not 
approved  by  the  bishop,  or  whose  faculties  had  been 
revoked  or  who  was  suspended,  or  wliere  the  duly 
ax^pointed  priest  was  prevented  from  officiating  or 
deprived  of  his  income.  Bishops  were  advised  fre- 
quently to  set  before  those  who  administered  the 
teuiporalities,  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  Council  of 
Trent.  Decree  IX.  charged  bishops  to  warn  their 
flocks  against  corrupt  translations  of  the  Bible  ;  and 
to  urge  the  use  of  the  Douay  Bible,  of  which  correct 
editions  were  to  be  issued  under  the  eye  of  some  bishop. 
Decree  X.  enjoined  the  uniform  use  of  the  Roman 
ritual.  Decree  XI.  determined  the  qualifications  of 
sponsors  in  baptism  and  confirmation.  Decree  XII. 
regarded  the  giving  of  profane  names  in  baptism  and 
urged  those  of  saints  to  be  adopted :  and  the  next  de- 
cree concerned  cases  where  several  names  were  given. 
Decree  XIV.  required  registers  to  be  kept  for  bap- 
tisms, confirmations,  marriages,  and  burials.  Decree 
XV.  regarded  the  blessing  of  water  on  Holy  Saturday 
and  baptismal  fonts.  Decree  XVI.  directed  baptism  to 
be  administered  where  possible  in  church,  and  not  in 
private  houses,  and  XVII.  regarded  the  baptism  of 
children  of  non-Catholic  parents  wliere  there  was  a  pro- 


416       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

spect  of  tlie  child  being  brought  up  a  Catholic.  Decree 
XVIII.  concerned  the  form  to  be  used  in  the  bajDtisra  of 
adults,  and  XIX.  the  churching  of  women.  Decree 
XX.  enjoined  the  use  of  Latin  in  administering  the 
sacraments.  By  Decree  XXI.  confirmation  was  not  to 
be  administered,  except  in  special  circumstances,  to 
children  under  seven  years  of  age,  and  by  XXII.,  where 
a  number  were  confirmed,  cards  giving  the  names  were 
to  be  used.  Decree  XXIII.  forbid  the  celebration  of 
mass  in  private  houses,  not  being  regular  stations  or 
places  authorized  by  the  bishop,  unless  on  some  occa- 
sion when  the  priest  was  too  far  from  any  church  or 
station.  Decree  XXIV.  regulated  the  decency  of  the 
church  for  the  offering  of  the  holy  sacrifice.  Decree 
XXV.  required  proper  confessionals  publicly  in  the 
churches,  and  forbade  priests  to  hear  confessions, 
especially  of  women,  in  private  houses.  Decree  XXVI. 
urged  pastors  to  prepare  the  faithful  for  the  due  and 
religious  reception  of  the  sacrament  of  matrimony. 
Decree  XXVII.  prescribed  the  dress  to  be  worn  by 
priests,  and  XXVIII.  warned  them  against  games  or 
sports  that  would  give  scandal.  Decree  XXIX.  re- 
quired every  priest  having  care  of  souls  to  preach  to 
his  flock  on  Sundays  and  holidays.  Decree  XXX. 
urged  bishops  frequently  to  impress  their  clergy  with 
a  sense  of  their  duties  by  exhorting  them  to  an  annual 
retreat,  daily  meditation,  spiritual  conferences,  and 
other  pious  exercises.  The  31st  decree  directed  the 
preparation  of  a  proper  ceremonial  in  English.  De- 
cree XXXII.  urged  the  use  of  the  Roman  biretta  and 
a  suitable  surplice.  Decree  XXXIII.  forbade  the  use 
of  catechisms  and  prayer-books  not  approved  by  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  and  proposed  an  edition  of  a 
catechism  adapted. to  this  country,  based  on  that  of 
Cardinal  Bellarmine.     Decree  XXXIV.  urged  where 


FIRST  COUNCIL   OF  BALTIMORE.  417 

possible  the  erection  of  Catholic  schools  to  save  chil- 
dren, especially  those  of  the  poor,  from  perversion,  and 
decree  XXXV.  regarded  the  preparation  of  suitable 
schoolbooks.  The  86th  decree  urged  the  establishment 
of  a  society  for  diffusing  Catholic  books.  The  remain- 
ing decrees  concerned  the  ai)i)robation  of  the  Holy  See 
to  the  acts  of  the  Council,  and  appointed  another 
Synod  after  a  lapse  of  three  years. 

In  a  Congregation  held  October  13,  the  Fathers  ex- 
pressing their  admiration  for  the  acts  of  the  Synod 
held  by  Archbishop  Carroll  in  1791,  directed  it  to  be 
reprinted  with  the  acts  of  the  Council. 

The  letter  of  the  Council  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
Pope  Pius  yill.  recalled  the  growth  of  the  Church 
in  the  United  States  from  its  feeble  commencement. 
"Not  two  centuries  have  elapsed  since,  in  a  remote 
and  obscure  corner  of  Maryland,  a  little  band  of 
Catholics  guided  by  a  few  missionaries,  exiles  from 
their  native  land,  flying  from  the  cruel  persecution 
inflicted  on  them  for  adhering  to  the  faith  of  their 
forefathers,  laid  the  foundations  of  this  American 
Church.  It  is  scarcely  forty  years  since  this  body  of 
the  faithful  in  the  United  States  of  America  was  found 
sufficient  to  demand  in  the  opinion  of  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  the  erection  of  the  first  episcopal  see  at  Balti- 
more. Not  twenty  years  have  rolled  by  since  a  decree 
of  the  Holy  Pontiff,  Pius  VII.,  exalted  the  Church  of 
Baltimore  with  the  dignity  and  rights  of  a  Metropoli- 
tan, and  like  a  joyful  mother  of  children  she  has  beheld 
in  recently  erected  suffragan  dioceses,  quickened  by 
a  heaven-bestowed  fruitfulness,  an  offspring  in  new 
churches,  which  it  has  borne  to  Christ.  Nevertheless 
we  see  so  many  blessings  bestowed  by  God  on  these 
rising  churches,  such  increase  given  to  this  vineyard, 
that  those  who  planted,  and  those  who  watered,  and 


418       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

those  who  harvested  and  tread  the  overflowing  wine- 
press, are  compelled  to  confess  and  admire  wholly  "the 
linger  of  God."  The  number  of  the  faithful  increases 
daily,  churches  not  unworthy  of  Divine  worship  are 
everywhere  erected,  the  word  of  God  is  preached 
everywhere  and  not  without  fruit;  the  hatred  and 
prejudice  spread  against  the  Church  and  the  faithful 
vanish  ;  holy  religion,  once  despised  and  held  in  con- 
tempt, receives  honor  from  her  very  enemies  ;  the 
l)riests.  of  Christ  are  venerated  even  by  those  without ; 
the  truth  and  divinity  of  our  faith  is  ^Droclaimed  and 
vindicated  from  tlie  calumny  of  heresy  and  unbelief 
not  only  in  churches  and  from  pulpits,  but  from  the 
press  in  widely  scattered  periodicals  and  books.  Six 
ecclesiastical  seminaries,  the  hope  of  our  churches,  have 
already  been  established,  and  are  governed  in  holy 
discipline  by  pious  and  learned  priests  ;  nine  colleges 
under  ecclesiastical  control,  the  glory  of  the  Catholic 
name,  have  been  erected  in  different  States  to  train 
boys  and  young  men  in  piety,  arts,  and  higher  branches 
of  science  ;  three  of  these  have  been  chartered  as  uni- 
versities by  the  legislatures  ;  thirty-three  monasteries 
and  houses  of  religious  women  of  different  orders 
and  congregations,  Ursulines,  Yisitandines, Carmelites, 
Sacred  Heart,  Sisters  of  Charity,  Loretto,  etc.,  are 
everywhere  established  in  our  dioceses,  whence  ema- 
nate not  only  the  observance  of  the  evangelical  coun- 
sels, and  the  exercise  of  all  other  virtues, but  "  the  good 
odor  of  Christ"  in  the  pious  training  of  innumerable 
girls ;  houses  of  religious  of  the  Order  of  Preachers 
and  the  Society  of  Jesus,  of  secular  priests  of  the  Con- 
gation  of  the  Mission,  and  of  St.  Sulpice,  from  which 
as  centres  priests  are  sent  out  to  missions  ;  many 
schools  where'  the  poor  of  both  sexes  are  taught 
gratuitously ;  hospitals  where  these  examples  of  Chris- 


FIRST  COUNCIL   OF  BALTIMORE.  419 

tian  charity  were  formerly  unknown,  are  now  daily 
given  by  religions  women  to  the  great  benefit  of  souls 
and  of  religion.  These,  Most  Holy  Father,  are  the  sig- 
nal benefits  which  God  has  bestowed  upon  us  within 
a  few  years." 

The  picture  was  not  overdrawn,  as  the  preceding- 
pages  narrating  the  gradual  growth  of  the  dioceses 
attest,  although  the  progress  had  been  hampered  in 
some  dioceses  by  the  evil  spirit  of  men  already  alien- 
ated from  the  faith  and  discipline  of  their  ancestors. 

The  acts  of  the  Provincial  Council  were  confirmed  by 
Pope  Pius  VIII.  after  careful  examination  by  experi- 
enced theologians,  on  the  80tli  of  September,  1830, 
and  his  approval  was  embodied  in  a  decree  of  the 
Sacred  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide,  October 
16,  1830.1 


CHAPTER   II. 
GROWTH  OF  ANTI-CATHOLIC  FEELING. 

Catholicity  had  prospered  in  the  United  States 
for  more  than  fifty  years  under  the  protection  of  the 
more  liberal  principles  embodied  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  and  the  gradual  removal  of  penal  oi- 
disabling  laws.  The  freedom  which  Catholics  had 
enjoyed  had  never  been  abused  ;  they  had  borne  their 

'  "Concilium  Baltimorcnse,  Provinciale  Primuni :  lialiitum  Baltimori 
Anno  reparatse  Salutis  1829,  mense  Octobri,"  Baltimore,  1831 ;  "  Concilia 
Provincialia,  Baltimori  liabita  ab  anno  1829  usque  ad  annum  1840." 
Baltimore,  1842.  Smith,  "Compendium  Juris  Canonici,"  New  York, 
1890,  p.  56. 

Letter  of  the  Council  to  the  Pope,  October  24,  1829.  The  Catholic 
population  at  this  time  was  estimated  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  at 
half  a  million  in  a  population  of  twelve  millions.  The  Catholics  of  the 
diocese  of  Charleston  were  reckoned  at  ten  thousand.  Bishop  Rosati  in 
Ann.  de  la  Prop.,  iv. ,  p.  599. 


420       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

part  with  their  fellow-citizens  in  developing  the  re- 
sources of  the  country,  increasing  its  wealth  and  pros- 
perity ;  they  had  marched  shoulder  to  shoulder  with 
the  bravest  to  meet  the  Indian  foe  or  the  foreign 
enemy  ;  they  had  no  share  in  the  secession  plans  of 
the  Northeast  or  the  revolutionary  plans  in  the  South- 
west, They  had  erected  churches,  colleges,  acade- 
mies, and  schools  for  the  religious,  moral,  and  intel- 
lectual training  of  their  members  ;  they  were  caring 
for  the  orphans.  There  was  nothing  in  their  record 
to  afford  a  basis  for  any  revival  of  the  ancient 
spirit  of  persecution  and  oppression.  It  is  not  to 
be  wondered  at  that  Catholics  lived  in  the  feeling 
of  perfect  security,  relying  on  the  protection  of 
the  laws. 

Yet  there  was  a  steadily  increasing  current  of 
thought  hostile  to  them  in  the  country,  nurtured 
mainly  by  publications  from  the  British  Isles,  a  strong 
anti-catholic  literature  evoked  by  the  agitation  in 
favor  of  Catholic  Emancipation.  Many  of  these 
things  were  reprinted  here  and  widely  circulated  ; 
old  prejudices  were  revived,  and  the  unscrupulous 
soon  found  that  new  contributions  would  be  readilj^ 
welcomed  without  too  close  scrutiny.  To  meet  these 
constant  misrepresentations  and  calumnies,  it  had  been 
found  necessary  to  establish  Catholic  journals.  The 
earliest  of  these,  "The  United  States  Catholic  Miscel- 
lany," "The  TruthTeller,""  The  Jesuit,"  devotedmuch 
of  their  space  to  the  defense  of  Catholic  doctrines  and 
the  refutation  of  false  and  malicious  charges  ;  contro- 
versies increased,  but  produced  little  benefit,  and  the 
converts  Avho  entered  the  Church  were  not  won  by 
them  ;  in  almost  every  case  they  were  men  and  women 
who  found  that  the  systems  in  which  they  had  been 
educated  lacked  a  logical  basis,  and  who  came  by 


ANTI-CATHOLIC  FEELING.  421 

study,  thought,  and  prayer  to  the  portals  of  the 
Catholic  Church. 

Meanwhile  the  anti-catholic  feeling  was  gaining 
ground  steadily,  and  becoming,  though  no  one  seemed 
to  comprehend  the  fact,  a  menace  to  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  the  country,  without  one  redeeming  ele- 
ment, but  fraught  with  a  dangerous  disregard  of  the 
rights  of  fellow-citizens  to  life  and  property.  This 
dangerous  condition  pervaded  the  whole  country,  en- 
couraged and  stimulated  by  men  who  professed  the 
most  religious  principles,  but  which  needed  only  a 
pretext  to  burst  out  into  open  violence. 

This  spirit,  utterly  at  variance  with  the  real  genius 
of  our  American  institutions,  contrasts  sharply  with 
Catholic  thought  as  expressed  about  this  time  by  the 
venerable  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton  :  "When  I 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  I  had  in  view 
not  only  our  independence  of  England,  but  the  tolera- 
tion of  all  sects  professing  the  Christian  religion  and 
communicating  to  them  all  equal  rights.  Happily 
this  wise  and  salutary  measure  has  taken  place  for 
eradicating  religious  feuds  and  persecution,  and  be- 
come a  useful  lesson  to  all  governments.  Reflecting, 
as  you  must,  on  the  disabilities,  I  may  truly  say  on 
the  proscription,  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  Maryland, 
you  will  not  be  surprised  that  I  had  much  at  heart 
this  grand  design  founded  on  mutual  cliarity,  the  basis 
of  our  holy  religion."  ^ 

'  Charles  Carroll  to  G.  W.  P.  Ciistis,  Feb.  20,  1829. 


BOOK  IV. 

CHAPTER  I. 
DIOCESE  OF  BALTIMORE  AND  RICHMOND. 

MOST    llEV.    JAMES    WHITFIELD,    ARCHBISHOP,    1829-1834. 

In  the  spring  of  1829  Arclibishop  Whitfield  made  a 
iive  weeks'  visitation  of  liis  diocese,  blessing  a  church 
on  the  borders  of  Maryland  and  Virginia.  He 
stationed  a  priest  at  Martinsburg  and  another  in  the 
Alleghany  mountains. 

After  the  close  of  the  important  Council  of  Balti- 
more, Archbishop  Whitfield  resumed  his  ordinary 
duties  in  the  two  dioceses  confided  to  his  care.  The 
exercises  of  the  jubilee  wliich  had  been  proclaimed 
were  carried  out  earnestly  b}^  tlie  aid  of  the  Jesuits 
and  Sulpitians,  and  produced  great  results.  Balti- 
more, wliich  the  venerable  Charles  Carroll  of  Carroll- 
ton  could  remember  as  a  single  line  of  seven  or  eight 
houses,  now  found  five  Catholic  churches  insufficient 
to  accommodate  the  faithful,  and  two  new  edifices 
were  rising  on  elevated  sites  at  the  noi'th  and  south. 
St.  Mary's  College  and  the  theological  seminaries 
were  in  full  prosperity. 

Soon  after  the  Council  the  Archbishop  accompanied 
by  his  Vicar-General,  V.  Rev.  Mr.  Tessier,  proceeded 
to  Richmond,  where  the  two  hundred  poor  Catholics 
had  but  a  small  wooden  church  so  mean  that  some 
were  ashamed  to  attend  it.  Here  the  Archbishop  saw 
how  little  could  be  accomplished  till  he  could  confide 

A22 


MEDLEY'S  NECK.  423 

the  mission  to  an  energetic  priest  there,  able  to  rear  a 
church  worthy  of  the  faith.  He  visited  Norfolk  also, 
where  the  church  was  attended  by  two  priests,  and 
the  Portsmouth  mission.  Here  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  received  confirmation/ 

St.  Peter's  Church,  the  first  Catholic  shrine  in  Balti- 
more, had  been  after  the  dedication  of  the  Cathedral 
used  only  as  a  private  chapel,  but  about  this  time  it 
became  necessary  to  open  it  again  to  acconmiodate 
those  who  could  not  find  room  in  the  great  church.^ 
While  the  Jesuit  Father  Dubuisson  and  other  Fathers 
of  the  Society,  who  were  giving  the  jubilee  exercises 
in  St.  Mary's  County,  Maryland,  were  engaged  on  the 
24tli  of  January  in  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  of  Medley's 
Neck,  a  serious  accident  occurred.  The  church  had 
been  erected  but  ten  years,  yet  the  walls  already 
showed  that  the  workmanship  had  been  wretched. 
The  church  was  crowded,  and  just  as  the  sermon  was 
about  to  commence,  a  loud  noise  Avas  heard  and  the 
floor  began  to  settle.  There  was  a  general  rush  for 
the  doors  and  windows,  and  those  on  the  galleries 
rushed  down,  increasing  the  confusion.  The  priest 
remained  at  the  altar,  till  examination  showed  that 
some  supports  had  yielded  ;  fortunately  no  one  was 
seriously  injured  ;  the  Mass  was  resumed  ;  the  most 
of  the  congregation  returned,  and  many  received  holy 
communion.^ 

1  Archbishop  Whitfield  to  Rome,  June  12,  1829,  Jan.  28,  1830. 
Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  laFoi,  iv.,  p.  243.  Rev.  Nichola.s  Kerney, 
T\ho  had  done  such  good  work  at  Norfolk  and  in  North  Carolina,  was 
then  at  St.  Patrick's  ;  and  the  veteran  Rev.  Louis  De  Earth  at  St.  John's. 
Metropolitan,  Baltimore,  1830,  p.  31.  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  316. 
Rev.  Thomas  Hore  to  Archbishop  Whitfield,  April  15,  1828  ;  Rev.  J. 
Hoerner  to  same,  June  11,  1828. 

'■^  Archbishop  Whitfield  to  Propaganda,  Aug.  29,  1830. 

^  Woodstock  Letters,  xi.,  p.  56. 


424       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  city  of  Washington  at  this  time  had  three 
chnrches,  St.  Patrick's,  recently  erected,  witli  a  ];)ulpit 
of  costly  woods  presented  by  Mr.  Rebello,  the  ambas- 
sador of  the  Emj)eror  of  Brazil;  St.  Peter's,  and  St. 
Mary's  with  a  school  and  orphan  asylum  under  the 
Sisters  of  Charity.  Georgetown  had  its  ancient 
Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  the  Visitation  Convent 
with  its  Church  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  Georgetown 
College  ;  while  across  the  river  was  a  new  church  in 
Alexandria,  with  a  congregation  of  nine  hundred.^ 


THE  VISITATION  CONVENT,    GEOKGETOWN,    FROM  AN  EARLY  PRINT. 

The  Convent  of  the  Visitation  by  the  intelligent  zeal 
and  liberality  of  Rev.  J.  P.  de  Cloriviere,  carried  out  by 
his  successor  Rev.  Michael  F.  Wheeler,  who  completed 
the  Odeon,  had  become  a  handsome  range  of  brick 
buildings  between  two  and  three  hundred  feet  in 
length  by  about  forty  in  depth,  especially  adapted 
for  the  uses  of  an  academy,  with  Avell  lighted  and 
ventilated  class-rooms,  healthy  dormitories  and  spa- 
cious playgrounds.     The  community  numbered  fifty 


Truth  Teller,  vi.,  p.  375. 


ST.  CHARLES'  COLLEGE.  425 

religious,  and  the  academy  contained  128  pupils,  and 
their  free  school  320  children.  Rev.  Mr.  Wheeler, 
when  compelled  to  visit  Europe  for  his  health,  obtained 
from  Pope  Pius  YIII.  many  spiritual  favors  and  a 
modification  of  the  rule  necessitated  by  their  actual 
position,^ 

While  these  institutions  were  advancing  in  pros- 
perity and  usefulness  the  Jesuit  Father  John  McElroy 
began  a  fine  church  at  Frederick,  Maryland,  and  near 
It  St.  John's  Literary  Institution,  which  rendered 
good  service  for  many  years. 

As  Mount  St.  Mary's  was  no  longer  a  Petit  Semi- 
naire  or  preparatory  school  for  St.  Mary's  Theological 
Seminary,  Baltimore,  the  Sulpitians  felt  the  need  of 
a  special  school  for  training  youth  who  showed  a 
vocation  for  the  priesthood.  The  illustrious  patriot 
CJharles  Carroll  gave  land  at  Doughoregan  Manor 
for  such  an  institution,  and  it  was  duly  incorporated 
by  the  State  of  Maryland  as  St.  Charles'  College. 
The  corner-stone  of  a  granite  structure,  eighty  feet  by 
sixty  was  laid  on  the  lltli  of  July,  1831,  by  Mr.  Carroll, 
and  blessed  by  the  Archbishop.  The  wolk  was  prose- 
cuted actively,  Mr.  Carroll  contributing  $6500,  and 
this  institution,  once  opened,  rendered  good  service  to 
religion.^ 

The  condition  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  College  Avas  a 
source  of  anxiety  to  Archbishop  Whitfield.  It  was 
not  his  diocesan  seminary,  and  preferring  to  have 
candidates  for  the  j)riestliood  trained  by  a  full  corps 
of  professors  at  St.   Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore,  he 

'  Letter  of  Archbishop  Whitfield  to  Rome,  June  13,  1729.  U.  S. 
■Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  60.  Annals  of  the  Visitation.  An  attempt  was 
again  made  about  this  time  to  introduce  the  Ursuline  rule,  but  it  failed. 

2  Archbishop  Whitfield  to  Propaganda,  Aug.  29,  1830  ;  U.  S  Cath. 
Miscellany,  xi.,  p.  30. 


426       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

urged  the  clergymen  in  charge  of  Mount  St.  Mary's, 
as  his  predecessor  had  urged  them,  to  abandon  the 
courses  of  philosophy  and  theology,  and  make  the 
institution  simply  a  college  for  young  men.  The 
financial  condition,  however,  made  any  change  preca- 
rious. The  debt,  already  large  when  Rev.  Dr.  Du  Bois 
left,  had  steadily  increased,  and  unless  seminarians 
Avere  employed  as  professors,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  sustain  the  college.  The  Archbishop  accordingly 
yielded  to  the  remonstrance  of  Rev.  John  B.  Purcell 
and  his  associates. 

The  College  had  by  this  time  obtained  a  charter,  the 
General  Assembly  of  Maryland  having  in  February, 
1830,  created  the  institution  an  incorporated  college, 
"with  full  power  and  authority  to  hold  public  com- 
mencements and  admit  any  of  its  students  or  other 
persons  meriting  the  same  to  any  degree  or  degrees  in 
any  of  the  faculties,  arts,  sciences,  and  liberal  pro- 
fessions, except  medicine,  to  which  persons  are 
usually  admitted  in  other  colleges  or  universities  in 
America."  The  Seminary  and  College  remained  under 
the  direction  of  Rev.  John  B.  Purcell  as  President 
till  his  election  to  the  See  of  Cincinnati  in  1833,  wdien 
he  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Thomas  R.  Butler.^ 

About  this  time  the  Carmelite  Nuns  prepared  to 
remove  from  Port  Tobacco,  where  a  long  and  tedious 
lawsuit  had  greatly  imx)overislied  them.  Tliej^  lost 
in  March,  1830,  their  venerable  Superior  Mother  Clare 
Joseph  Dickenson,  and  her  successor  Mother  Angela 
of  St.  Teresa.  Under  the  advice  of  Archbishop  Whit- 
field they  purchased  a  small  house  on  Aisquith  Street, 
Baltimore,  with  about  three-quarters  of  an  acre   of 

'  Rev.  J.  Purcell  and  others  to  Archbishop  Whitfield,  Dec.  29,  1831  ; 
Rev.  John  McCaffrey  to  Archbishop  Eccleston.  April  1,  1835.  Truth 
Teller,  xiv.,  pp.  151,  237.     Catholic  Almanac,  1835,  p.  79. 


THE  CARMELITES.  427 

ground.  On  this  they  prepared  to  erect  a  larger 
building  to  enable  them  to  open  an  academy  as  a 
means  of  support.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  by 
Archbishop  Whitfield  on  the  29th  of  September,  1830. 
In  August  of  the  following  year  he  gave  formal  per- 
mission to  the  Nuns  to  leave  their  primitive  home,  to 
which  they  bade  a  last  farewell  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, and  were  soon  installed  in  their  new  house. 
Their  academy  was  opened  early  in  the  following 
month. ^ 

Tlie  publication  of  Catholic  works  centred  at  first 
in  Philadelphia,  but  Baltimore  was  becoming  a  home 
for  the  Catholic  press.  Here  in  1829  issued  a  History 
of  the  Church  by  Rev.  Charles  Constantine  Pise,  the 
most  extended  original  work  yet  written  in  this 
country,  and  in  1831  Fielding  Lucas  issued  a  quarto 
Bible  and  a  New  Testament. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1830,  Pope  Pius  VIII.,  in 
view  of  the  great  extent  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
paucity  of  priests,  extended  the  time  for  approaching 
the  Holy  Eucharist,  so  that  the  faithful  might  fulfill 
the  precept  at  any  time  between  the  first  Sunday  in 
Lent  and  Trinity  Sunday.^ 

During  the  year  new  churches  were  completed  at 
Hagerstown  and  Merryland  Tract,  and  a  third  nearly 
so  at  Marlborough. 

On  the  13th  of  October,  1831,  Archbishop  Whitfield 
issued  a  circular  to  his  clergy  convening  a  diocesan 
synod  to  be  held  in  order  to  publish  solemnly  the 
decrees  of  the  first  Council  of  Baltimore.     The  synod 


1  Currier,  "  Carmel  in  America,"  Baltimore,  1890,  pp.  180-194.  The 
Sisters  were  incorporated  by  the  Legislature  in  1833.  Archbishop  Whit- 
field to  Propaganda,  Aug.  29,  1830. 

'•^  Decree  of  the  Sac.  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide,  Oct.  16, 
1830. 


428       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

met  on  the  8tli  of  November  at  the  archiepiscopal 
residence,  and  was  attended  by  thirty-live  priests. 
Several  of  the  decrees  of  the  council  were  promulgated 
to  be  put  in  force  gradually,  where  a  contrary  custom 
had  prevailed,  as  in  the  use  of  English  at  baptisms, 
marriages,  and  funerals.  In  regard  to  tlie  enlargement 
of  churches,  however,  or  the  erection  of  new  edihces, 
the  rule  of  the  council  was  to  be  strictly  followed,  and 
nothing  of  the  kind  was  to  be  attempted  without  the 
sanction  of  the  Archbishop. 

Among  those  who  attended  this  synod  was  the  ven- 
erable Father  Francis  Neale,  aged  seventy-five  ;  he 
was  with  Rev.  Drs,  Eccleston,  Tessier,  Deluol,  and 
Matthews,  one  of  the  preachers  during  the  sessions.^ 

Though  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  could  find 
consolation  in  the  increase  of  churches  and  institu- 
tions, he  had  difficulties.  In  the  oldest  parts  of  his 
diocese,  the  counties  of  St.  Mary  and  Charles,  the 
congregations  were  very  poor  and  many  churches  in  a 
ruinous  condition  ;  Prince  George's  County  was  some- 
what better,  but  missionary  after  missionary  sank 
under  the  toils  of  the  ministry  among  the  scattered 
Catholics  on  the  unhealthy  Eastern  shore.  For  the 
diocese  of  Richmond  he  had  but  four  priests,  two  at 
Norfolk,  where  Rev.  F.  Van  Horsigh  had  completed 
his  new  church  and  dedicated  it  in  July  ;  one  at  Rich- 

'  Circular,  Rev.  E.  Damphoux,  Secy.;  "  Sjmodus  Diojcesana  Balti- 
morensis  II.  habita  ab  Illustrissimo  ac  Reverendissimo  Jacobo,  Archi- 
episcopo  Baltimorensi,"  etc.,  Baltimore,  1831.  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany, 
xi.  p.  183.  This  venerable  priest  died  at  Port  Tobacco,  Dec.  20,  1837,. 
aged  eighty-two.  He  was  a  brother  of  Archbishop  Neale,  and  was  edu- 
cated in  Europe.  He  completed,  if  he  did  not  found,  Trinity  Church, 
Georgetown,  and  erected  the  first  church  in  Alexandria.  He  was  presi- 
dent of  Georgetown  College  from  1810  to  1812,  and  spiritual  director  of 
the  Visitation  Sisters.  His  last  years  were  spent  in  active  mission  work. 
"History  of  Georgetown  College."     Catholic  Almanac,  1889. 


MARTYBS  OF  CHARITY.  429 

mond  and  one  at  Martinsburg,  the  energetic  Rev.  F. 
Roloff,  who  found  little  encouragement  at  Wheeling, 
though  there  were  many  scattered  Catholics.^  A  line 
bell  for  the  Cathedral  had  been  cast  by  Frerejean  of 
Lyons,  and  Archbishop  AVhitlield  erected  a  tower  to 
receive  it :  at  the  same  time  he  issued  a  circular  call- 
ing on  the  clergy  to  aid  in  completing  the  sacred  edi- 
fice by  erecting  the  corresponding  tower,  and  the 
noble  portico  which  formed  part  of  the  original  plan.^ 
He  soon  after  made  a  visitation  of  the  uj)per  counties 
of  Maryland.^ 

All  seemed  full  of  fair  promise,  but  amid  these 
plans  of  improvement  came  the  first  visitation  of  that 
appalling  disease,  the  Asiatic  cholera.  The  Sisters  of 
Charity  hastened  to  give  their  services  in  attending 
the  sick ;  while  the  Archbishop  offered  his  residence 
for  use  as  a  hospital.  Though  others  fled,  the 
Catholic  priests  and  sisters  multiplied  their  efforts 
to  meet  the  calls  for  assistance  that  came  from 
every  side.  Mary  Francis  and  Mary  George,  Sisters 
of  Charity ;  the  Oblate  Sister  Antonina,  Revs.  Mi- 
chael Wheeler  and  William  O'Brien  died  amid 
their  labors  of  charity.  The  Pope,  in  view  of  the 
want  of  priests  in  this  country,  sent  a  special 
apostolic  benediction  to  the  faithful  during  the 
visitation.* 

When  the  ravages  of  the  cholera  had  ceased,  the 

'  Archbishop  Whitfield  to  the  Association  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi, 
"  Annales,"  v.,  p.  714;  Rev.  F.  Roloflf  to  Archbishop  Whitfield,  April 
2,  1829. 

'■'  Circular,  March  1,  1832. 

3  Father  F.  Grivel  to  F.  Nicholas  Sewall,  May  30,  1832. 

*  The  services  of  the  Sisters  elicited  a  public  expression  of  gratitude 
from  the  Baltimore  authorities.     Catholic  Intelligencer,   iii.,  p.    414  ; 


430       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Visitation  Convent  in  Georgetown  sent  out  on  the  27tli 
of  November  its  first  colony  of  nuns  under  Mother 
Mary  Augustine  to  found  a.  house  of  their  rule  at 
Mobile,  and  in  the  following  April  another  band  of 
these  disciples  of  St.  Jane  Frances  de  Chantal  i^ro- 
ceeded  under  the  direction  of  Mother  Mary  Agnes 
Brent  to  the  ancient  i)ost  of  Kaskaskia  to  begin  there 
the  work  of  education.'  The  Georgetown  Academy  at 
this  time  had  one  hundred  pupils,  and  the  free  school 
founded  by  Rev.  Mr.  de  Cloriviere  was  attended  by 
150  scholars.* 

The  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  had  begun  their 
labors  in  Maryland  with  its  earliest  settlement  under 
Leonard  Calvert  in  1633,  and  till  the  suppression  of 
the  order  by  Pope  Clement  XIV.  in  1773  the  members 
belonged  to  the  English  province.  AVhen  the  sur- 
viving members  were  permitted  in  1806  to  reorganize, 
they  became  a  mission  dependent  on  the  Father-General 
in  Russia  and  subsequently  on  Rome.  The  Maryland 
mission  had  now  a  life  of  its  own,  and  was  evidently 
self-subsisting,  with  a  prosperous  college  at  George- 
town, now  engaged  in  extending  its  buildings,  a  minor 
educational  establishment  at  Frederick,  a  novitiate,  a 
scholasticate.  The  General  of  the  Society,  Very  Rev. 
John  Roothaan,  deemed  that  the  time  had  come  to 
erect  the  mission  into  a  province  of  the  order,  and  the 
Province  of  Maryland  Avas  formally  established  Feb- 
ruary 2,  1833.     In  pursuance  of  this  Father  William 


Jesuit,  iv. ,  p.  49.  Catholic  Telegraph,  i.,  pp.  383-7:  Scharf,  "Chron- 
icles of  Baltimore,"  p.  460.  Cardinal  Prefect  to  Archbishop  Whitfield, 
Oct.  4,  1832. 

'  Annals  of  the  Visitation. 

.  2  Annals  of  the  Visitation  ;  Mother  Madeline  de  St.  Augustin  to  Arch- 
Inshop  Whitfield,  Jan.  5,  1833.  The  Sisters  readied  Mobile  December 
31,  and  were  temporarily  installed  in  a  neat  country  house. 


ST.  JAMES'  CHURCH.  431 

McSlieny,  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  Installed  as  the 
first  Provincial,  July  5,  1833.^ 

On  the  9th  of  Jnne,  1833,  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  dis- 
pensed the  faithful  in  the  United  States  from  the 
obligation  of  abstinence  on  St,  Mark's  Day  and  the 
Rogation  Days,  and  for  a  term  of  ten  years  from  that 
of  abstinence  on  Saturdays  which  had  hitherto  been 
in  force.^ 

In  his  Lenten  Circular  the  Archbishop,  who  had 
during  the  cholera  modified  the  rules  of  abstinence, 
took  precautions  for  a  return  of  the  disease,  and 
called  on  all  for  more  earnest  prayer  and  mortifi- 
cation.^ 

It  had  long  been  the  desire  of  the  Most  Reverend 
Archbishop  to  devote  a  portion  of  his  private  means 
to  some  permanent  monument  in  the  diocese ;  and 
having  secured  a  suitable  site  in  the  city  of  Baltimore, 
he  solemrdy  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a  church  to  be 
dedicated  to  Almighty  God  under  the  invocation  of  the 
holy  apostle  St.  James,  selecting  his  festival,  May  1, 
for  the  ceremony.  The  site,  one  hundred  feet  by  one 
hundred  and  ninety,  was  a  fine  one  in  a  growing  part 
of  the  city.* 

He  dedicated  on  the  first  Sunday  in  May  the  fine 
church  erected  on  one  of  the  hills  at  Harper's  Ferry ; 

'  Very  Rev.  John  Rootbaan,  "  Decretum  Erectionis  Provincise  Mary- 
landiae";  Woodstock  Letters,  x.,  p.  252. 

'  Decree  of  the  Sac.  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide,  June  22,  1833. 

3  Lenten  Circular,  1833. 

•*  Archbishop  Whitfield  to  Rev.  N.  Wiseman,  June  6,  1833.  The 
stone  bore  this  inscription:  "  Jacobus  Whitfield,  Archiepiscopus  Bal- 
timorensis,  huncangularem  lapidem  Ecclesiaesubinvocationc  Sti.  Jacobi, 
Dei  Omnipotentis  Max.  cnltui  consecrandse,  clero  comitante,  posuit 
A.R.  S.  MDCCCXXXIII.  ipsis  kal.  mails,  S.S.  Apostolis  Philippo  et 
Jacobo,  sacris." 


432       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  was  consoled  to  see  those  at  Frederick,  Richmond, 
and  Ellicott's  Mills  advancing  toward  completion. 

On  the  10th  of  June  he  proclaimed  the  Jubilee 
granted  by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  Pope  Gregory  XVI., 
and  urged  the  faithful  to  secure  the  blessing  of  God 
and  avert  another  visitation  of  the  dread  disease.^ 

The  condition  of  Catholic  negroes  who  had  gone 
from  Maryland  to  Liberia  in  Africa  was  also  a  subject 
of  correspondence  between  the  authority  at  Rome  and 
the  Archbishop.  This  led  in  time  to  a  mission  from 
the  United  States.'^ 

Some  of  the  suffragan  bishops  expressed  an  earn- 
est wish  for  another  Provincial  Council  ;  Archbishop 
Whitfield  believed  that  it  would  be  wiser  to  carry  out 
gradually  the  recommendations  of  the  first  Council, 
rather  than  multiply  enactments.  He  seems,  how- 
ever, to  have  yielded  to  advice  from  Rome,  and  the 
second  Council  was  summoned  to  meet  on  the  20tli  of 
October. 

This  Council  was  more  fully  attended  than  the  first, 
and  the  new  see  of  Detroit  was  represented.  The 
Fathers  were  Most  Rev.  James  Whitfield,  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore  ;  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  David,  Bishox)  of 
Mauricastro  and  Coadjutor  of  Bardstown  ;  Rt.  Rev. 
John  England,  Bishop  of  Charleston  ;  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph 
Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  ;  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  Fen- 
wick,  Bishop  of  Boston ;  Rt.  Rev.  John  Du  Bois, 
Bishop  of  New  York  ;  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Portier, 
Bishop  of  Mobile  ;  Rt.  Rev.  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick, 
Administrator  of  Philadelphia ;  Rt.  Rev.  Frederic 
Rese,    Bishop   of    Detroit ;   Rt.    Rev.   John   Purcell, 

'The  Universal  Jubilee,"  etc.,  Baltimore,  1833;  The  U.  S.  Catholic 
Almanac  or  Laity's  Directory  for  the  year  1833,  Baltimore,  1833. 

^  Cardinal  Maio  to  Archbishop  Whitfield,  June  15,  1833. 


SECOND  PROVINCIAL  COUNCIL.  433 

Bishop  of  Cincinnati ;  Bishop  Flaget  alone  of  the 
bishops  in  actual  charge  of  dioceses  being  absent. 
Very  Rev.  William  McSherry,  Provincial  of  the  Soci- 
ety of  Jesus,  V.  Rev.  Nicholas  Dominic  Young,  Pro- 
vincial of  the  Dominicans,  Very  Rev.  Louis  R.  Deluol, 
V.  G.,  Superior  of  the  Sulpitians,  also  attended. 

The  Council  asked  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  to  erect  a 
see  at  Vincennes,  the  diocese  to  embrace  Indiana  and 
eastern  Illinois,  and  to  reunite  Virginia  to  the  diocese 
of  Baltimore,  suppressing  the  see  of  Richmond.  It, 
moreover,  defined  more  exactly  the  limits  of  the  sev- 
eral dioceses.  A  plan  for  nominating  to  vacant  sees 
was  proposed  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  ;  and  the  Holy 
Father  was  asked  to  commit  the  care  of  the  Indian 
tribes  and  of  the  negroes  in  Liberia  to  the  Society  of 
Jesus.  The  bishops  were  urged  to  establish  in  each 
diocese  where  possible  a  theological  seminary  accord- 
ing to  the  direction  of  the  Council  of  Trent ;  and  the 
authority  exercised  since  1810,  by  which  each  bishop 
could  empower  priests  to  officiate  in  neighboring  dio- 
ceses, was  finally  abolished.  The  Bishops  of  St.  Louis 
and  Boston  were  appointed  to  prejjare  an  edition  of 
the  Rituale  Romanum  adapted  to  the  wants  of  clergy 
in  this  country,  and  the  task  of  preparing  suitable 
class-books  for  Catholic  colleges  and  schools  was  con- 
fided to  the  presidents  of  St.  Mary's  College,  Balti- 
more, Mount  St,  Mary's,  and  Georgetown.^ 

When  the  acts  of  the  Council  reached  Rome,  it  was 
not  deemed  best  to  suppress  the  see  of  Richmond,  but 
the  other  suggestions  of  the  Council  were  approved. 

'  Concilium  Baltimorense  Provinciale  Secundum  ;  habitum  Baltimori, 
a  die  20a  ad  diem  usque  27am  Octobris  A.  R.  S.  1833.  Reprinted  at 
Rome  in  the  "  Fasciculus,"  in  the  "  Actaet  Decreta,"  Rome  1841,  in  the 
Bullariura  de  Propaganda  Fide,  and*  in  the  collected  Councils,  Balti- 
more, 1842,  etc. 


434      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

Pope  Gregory  XVI.  by  his  Letters  Apostolic,  "  Bene- 
dictus  Deus,"  June  17,  1834,  fixed  the  limits  of  tlie 
several  dioceses,  and  the  Congregation  de  Propaganda 
Fide  in  a  meeting  held  on  the  18tli  of  March  pre- 
scribed the  mode  to  be  observed  in  nominating  to 
vacant  sees.  Each  bisliox3  was  to  keep  sealed  and 
directed  to  his  Vicar  General,  to  be  opened  on  his 
death,  a  duplicate  list  of  three  priests  Avhom  he  re- 
garded as  best  fitted  to  succeed  him.  On  his  death 
the  Vicar  General  was  to  transmit  one  list  to  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore,  and  the  other  to  the  nearest  or 
senior  of  the  nearest  bishops.  Tlie  latter  was  then  to 
communicate  his  views  to  the  Archbishop,  who  was 
next  to  transmit  the  list,  or,  if  he  disapproved  it, 
another  list  of  three  names  with  it,  to  each  bishop  of 
the  province.  The  several  bishops  were  then  requested 
to  communicate  their  views  to  the  Congregation  de 
Propaganda  Fide.  It  was  expressly  noted,  however, 
that  this  action  of  the  bishops  did  not  constitute  an 
election,  nomination,  or  postulation,  but  simply  a 
recommendation.^ 

In  the  pastoral  letter  issued  by  the  Fathers  of  the 
Council  to  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  United  States, 
they  deplored  the  want  of  a  sufficient  number  of 
priests  and  churches  for  the  rapidly  increasing  body 
of  the  faithful,  and  exhorted  those  unable  to  hear 
mass  every  Sunday  to  meet  for  prayer  and  instruction 
and  so  keep  alive  the  faith,  assuring  them  of  the  solici- 
tude of  the  bishops  to  establish  churches  and  schools, 
and  give  them  worthy  and  zealous  priests.  They  ex- 
horted the  faithful  to  patience  and  forbearance  under 
the  vituperation  and  calumnies  of  a  hostile  press,  the 

'  Decretum  S.  Congregationis  de  Propaganda  Fide,  June  14,  1834. 
Concilium  Bait.  II.,  pp.  11-18. 


PASTORAL  LETTER.  435 

charges  of  disloyalty  to  tlie  country,  and  the  avowed 
efforts  to  check  the  progress  of  the  Catholic  religion 
and,  if  possible,  extirpate  it.  "We  advise  you  to 
heed  them  not ;  but  to  continue  whilst  you  serve  your 
God  with  lidelity,  to  discharge  honestly,  faithfully, 
and  with  affectionate  attachment  your  duties  to  the 
government  under  which  you  live,  so  that  we  may  in 
common  with  our  fellow-citizens  sustain  that  edifice 
of  rational  liberty  in  which  we  find  such  excellent 
protection. 

"  The  education  of  the  rising  generation  is,  beloved 
brethren,  a  subject  of  the  first  importance  ;  and  we 
have  accordingly,  at  all  times  used  our  best  efforts^  to 
provide,  as  far  as  our  means  would  permit,  not  only 
ecclesiastical  seminaries  to  insure  a  succession  in  our 
priesthood  and  its  extension  ;  but  we  have  moreover 
sought  to  create  colleges  and  schools  in  which  your 
children,  whether  male  or  female,  might  have  the  best 
opportunities  of  literature  and  science,  united  to  a 
strict  protection  of  their  morals  and  the  best  safe- 
guards of  their  faith." 

In  view  of  the  increasing  virulence  of  attacks  on  the 
Church,  which  were  manifest,  although  they  had  not 
yet  reached  their  height,  the  Fathers  of  the  Council 
said  :  "  We  notice  with  regret,  a  spirit  exhibited  by 
some  of  the  conductors  of  the  press  engaged  in  the 
interests  of  those  brethren  separated  from  our  com- 
munion, wdiich  has  within  a  few  years  become  more 
unkind  and  unjust  in  our  regard.  Not  only  do  they 
assail  us  and  our  institutions  in  a  style  of  vituperation 
and  offense,  misrepresent  our  tenets,  vilify  our  prac- 
tices, repeat  the  hundred  times  refuted  calumnies  of 
days  of  angry  and  bitter  contention  in  other  lands, 
but  they  have  even  denounced  you  and  us  as  enemies 
to  the  liberties  of  the  republic,  and  have  openly  pro- 


436       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

claimed  the  fancied  necessity  of  not  only  obstructing 
our  progress,  but  of  using  their  best  efforts  to  extir- 
pate our  religion.  It  is  neither  our  principles  nor  our 
practice  to  render  evil  for  evil,  nor  railing  for  railing, 
and  we  exhort  you  rather  to  the  contrary  to  render 
blessing,  for  unto  this  are  you  called  that  you  by 
inheritance  may  obtain  a  blessing."  ^ 

Archbishop  Whitfield,  though  his  health  began  to 
fail,  carried  on  the  erection  of  St.  James  Church,  and 
had  the  satisfaction  of  consecrating  it  solemnly  on 
the  anniversary  of  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  May 
1,  1834,  the  Rev.  Edward  Damx)houx,  rector  of  the 
Cathedral,  delivering  an  impressive  discourse  on  the 
occasion.^ 

Finding  that,  from  his  declining  health,  he  would 
soon  be  unable  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  care  of 
his  diocese,  Archbishop  AVhitfield,  in  com2:)liance  with 
the  regulations  recently  adoi^ted,  petitioned  the  Holy 
See  for  a  coadjutor,  loroposing  the  Rev.  Samuel  Eccle- 
ston,  President  of  St.  Mary's  College.  That  clergyman 
was  elected  titular  Bishop  of  Thermias,  and  on  the 
arrival  of  the  bulls  he  was  consecrated  on  the  14tli  day 
of  September,  the  feast  of  the  Exaltation  of  the  Holy 
Cross,  by  the  Most  Rev.  James  Whitfield,  Archbishop 
of  Baltimore,  then  very  infirm,  assisted  by  Rt.  Rev. 
Benedict  Fenwick,  Bishop  of  Boston,  and  Rt.  Rev, 
Francis  Patrick  Kenrick,  Bishop  of  Aratli.  The  Ca- 
thedral where  the  ceremony  took  place  was  crowded 
by  the  assembled  clergy  and  the  numbers  of  the  laity, 
who  gathered  to  behold  the  high  honor  conferred  on 

'  "  Pastoral  Letter  of  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  and  the 
Bishops  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church."    Baltimore,  1833. 

'  "  The  Substance  of  a  Discourse  delivered  at  the  Consecration  of  St. 
James'  Church  in  Baltimore,"  etc.  Baltimore.  N.  Y.  Weekly  Reg- 
ister, ii.,  p.  88. 


A   COADJUTOR   CONSECRATED.  487 

one  so  esteemed  in  Baltimore.  The  sermon  on  the  oc- 
casion was  delivered  by  Rev.  Thomas  Mulledy,  S.J., 
President  of  Georgetown  College.  His  episcopal  in- 
signia were  presented  to  him  by  the  students  of  St. 
Mary's  College,  over  which  he  had  so  ably  presided.^ 
After  the  consecration  of  his  coadjutor  Archbishop 
Whitfield  began  to  sink  rapidly.  His  physicians  had 
already  advised  him  to  visit  some  medicinal  springs 
for  the  renovation  of  his  health,  but  the  progress  of 
disease  soon  became  alarming.  For  months  he  had 
felt  the  decay  of  a  constitution,  not  naturally  strong, 
and  further  debilitated  by  the  toil  and  anxiety  insep- 
arable from  his  weighty  charge.  After  a  few  weeks' 
illness  which  he  bore  with  Christian  fortitude,  and 
M'itli  the  tender  piety  of  one  who  had  been  long  fa- 
miliar with  the  cross  of  his  Blessed  Master,  he  calmly 
expired  on  the  19tli  of  October,  1834,  in  the  sixty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  the  seventh  of  his  episco- 
pacy. On  the  21st  his  remains  were  borne  in  proces- 
sion from  his  late  residence  to  the  Cathedral,  where  a 
solemn  high  mass  was  offered  by  the  Most  Rev.  Dr. 
Eccleston.  A  funeral  discourse  was  pronounced  by 
Rev.  L.  R.  Deluol  of  St.  Sulpice,  who  took  as  his  text 
Psalm  81,  V.  6,  7."^  Prudence  and  energy  were  the  dis- 
tinctive marks  in  the  character  of  Archbishop  Whit- 
field. He  avoided  display  and  was  somewhat  austere, 
but  he  was  devoted  to  his  duties,  and  extremely  charit- 
able. His  whole  proi3erty  was  bestowed  on  works  of 
religion  and  mercy. 

'N.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  ii.,  pp.  303,  309  ;  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  310  ;  Fen- 
wick,  "  Memoranda." 

2  Circular  of  Archbisbop-elect  Eccleston,  Oct.  23,  1834.  N.  Y.  Weekly- 
Register,  iii.,  p.  54  ;  Jesuit,  v.,  pp.  350,  359 :  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany, 
xiv. ,  p.  143.  A  poem  by  John  Augustus  Shea  on  tbe  death  of  Arch- 
bishop Whitfield  appeared  in  N.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  iii.,  p.  120. 


438  GEORGETOWN  COLLEGE. 

He  encouraged  the  formation  of  societies  among  the 
faithful  for  pious  and  charitable  works,  and  the  Maria 
Marthian  Society  and  the  Female  Mutual  Relief  So- 
ciety of  Baltimore  date  from  his  time.^  Under  the 
presidency  of  Rev.  Thomas  Mulled}^,  Georgetown  Col- 
lege was  attaining  prosperity,  and  the  highest  officials 
in  the  land  were  led  by  its  fame  to  enroll  their  young 
kinsmen  among  its  students.  Congress  having  made 
a  grant  for  the  benefit  of  Columbian  College,  George- 
town solicited  the  like  encouragement,  and  her  claim, 
supported  by  the  Hon.  Daniel  Webster  of  Massachu- 
setts and  Hon,  John  Tyler  of  Virginia, was  recognized.^ 
Among  the  events  in  its  history  maybe  noted  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  Pliilodemic  Society,  which  has  since 
continued  its  useful  career,  stimulating  its  members 
to  be  faithful  alike  to  Church  and  to  country.  On  the 
20th  of  March,  1833,  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  created  it  a 
university,  by  empowering  the  Faculty  to  confer  de- 
grees in  x)hilosophy  and  theology. 

Before  the  death  of  Arclibishop  Whitfield  the  Church 
lost  the  venerable  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  model 
of  the  patriot  and  the  Christian,  revered  for  years  by 
all  Americans  as  the  last  of  the  glorious  band  who 
signed  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence. 
Born  at  Annapolis,  September  20,  1737,  and  educated 
at  St.  Omer's,  he  returned  to  his  native  land  to  devote 
his  talents  and  his  means  to  the  cause  of  freedom.  His 
defeat  of  the  loyalist  Dulany  in  argument  brought 
him  into  prominence.  In  Convention,  in  Congress,  as 
envoy  to  Canada,  as  Senator  at  Annapolis  and  Wash- 
ington, he  showed  the  highest  qualities.  As  he  had 
lived  he  died,  Nov.  14,  1832,  esteeming  his  religion 
dearer  than  earthly  fame  or  earthly  wealth, 

'  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  324.     N.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  iii.,  p.  84.     Rules  of  Fe- 
male Mutual  Relief  Society,  April  27,  1824. 

«  February  26,  1833.     AVoodstock  Letters,  xi.,  p.  63. 


MOST  REV.  SAMUEL  ECCLESTON,  FIFTH  ARCHBISHOP  OF  BALTIMORE. 


440 


CHAPTER  II. 

DIOCESE  OF   BALTIMORE. 
MOST   REV.  SAMUEL  ECCLESTON,  FIFTH  ARCHBISHOP,  1834-1843. 

By  the  death  of  the  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Whitfield,  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Samuel  Eccleston,  who  had  been  for  about 
a  month  Bishop  of  Thermias  and  coadjutor  with 
the  right  of  succession,  became  Archbishop-elect  of 
Baltimore. 

He  was  born  June  27,  1801,  a  few  miles  from  Chester- 
town,  in  the  County  of  Kent,  on  the  eastern  shore  of 
Maryland.  His  grandfather,  John  Eccleston,  came 
from  the  borough  of  Preston,  and  was  heir  to  Priest 
Hall  in  the  hundred  or  parish  of  Eccleston  of  Eccle- 
ton.  He  emigrated  from  England  about  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  and  settled  in  Kent  County, 
where  he  was  at  first  a  merchant  and  subsequently  a 
planter.  His  name  appears  among  the  vestrymen  of 
Shrewsbury  parish  as  early  as  1762.^ 

The  family  adhered  to  the  Church  of  England,  but 
Samuel  lost  his  father  at  an  early  age,  and  his  mother 
married  a  Catholic  gentleman  named  Stenson,  and 
became  a  Catholic.  This  led  to  his  being  jolaced  as  a 
student  as  St.  Mary's  College  when  he  had  attained 
his  eleventh  year.  His  amiable  deportment,  talents,, 
and  industry  made  him  a  general  favorite.  As  he 
grew  up  he  not  only  embraced  the  faith  and  was  re- 
ceived into   the   Church,   but  manifested   a  decided 

'  J.  B.  Eccleston  to  Samuel  Eccleston,  Sept.  14,  1825  ;  Hanson,  ' '  Old 
Kent,"  Baltimore,  1876,  p.  361. 

441 


442       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

vocation  for  the  priesthood.  His  mother,  who  had 
hoped  to  see  him  a  distinguished  member  of  theMary- 
hmd  bar,  yielded  to  his  desire,  and  he  passed  from  tlie 
college  to  the  theological  seminary  on  the  23d  of 
July,  1819.  Trained  by  the  learned  Sulpitians  he  made 
a  thorough  course  of  study  and  was  ordained  priest, 
April  24,  1825,  although  many  connected  with  him 
by  ties  of  blood  endeavored  to  divert  him  from  his 
purpose.  Having  expressed  an  earnest  wish  to  con- 
nect himself  with  the  Society  of  St.  Sulpice,  he  was 
soon  afterwards  sent  to  France  to  make  his  novitiate 
at  Issy.  After  his  probationary  exercises  here  the 
young  American  priest  visited  the  British  Isles  and 
returned  to  Baltimore  to  assume  the  duties  of  Vice- 
President  of  St.  Mary's  College.  He  soon  won  the 
esteem  of  the  Archbishop,  whom  he  frequently  attended 
on  visitations,  and  in  an  equal  degree  that  of  the 
clergy.  In  1829,  he  was  appointed  President  of  the 
College,  which  under  his  wise  and  able  administration 
prospered  greatly.  While  filling  this  position  he  was 
aj)pointed  coadjutor  to  Archbishop  Whitfield,  and  in 
a  few  weeks  became  Archbishop  elect  of  Baltimore 
and  Administrator  of  the  diocese  of  Richmond.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  the  feast  of  All  Saints  in  the 
following  year  that  he  was  invested  with  the  pallium 
and  entered  fully  on  his  rights  as  Metropolitan.^ 

The  age  and  infirmities  of  his  predecessor  had  for  a 
time  prevented  the  exertion  of  long  Journeys,  so  that 
Archbishop  Eccleston  found  much  to  be  done  in  a  visi- 
tation of  the  two  dioceses.  The  clergy  under  his  care 
numbered  68  ;  five  of  them  being  stationed  in  Virginia 
and  six  in  the  District  of  Columbia.     To  supply  priests 

>  Weekly  Register,  ii.,  p.  303;  Truth  Teller,  x.,  p.  302 ;  Catholic 
Diary,  v.,  p.  71 ;  Metropolitan  Catholic  Almanac,  1834,  p.  65,  1853, 
p.  58. 


PROGRESS.  443 

for  his  diocese  he  had  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Baltimore, 
directed  by  tlie  Sulj^itians,  Very  Rev,  Louis  R,  Deluol, 
Superior  ;  Mount  St.  Mary's  Seminary,  Emmitsburg, 
Rev.  Thomas  Butler,  Director  ;  the  Scholasticate  of 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  connected  with  Georgetown 
College.  Besides  the  institutions  already  mentioned, 
the  Sisters  of  Charity,  of  whom  Mother  Rose  White 
was  Superior,  conducted  an  academy  and  a  free  school 
at  Frederick,  a  school  and  an  orphan  asylum  in  Wash- 
ington, an  academy  in  Alexandria,  an  orphan  asylum, 
infirmary,  and  hospital  in  Baltimore.  The  Carmelites 
recently  removed  to  Baltimore  had  also  a  school,  and 
the  colored  Sisters  of  Providence  had  a  school  on  Rich- 
mond Street  in  a  house  which  they  had  recently  ac- 
quired.^ 

The  visitations  of  Archbishop  Eccleston  enabled  him 
to  see  the  condition  of  the  churches  and  institutions 
and  prepare  to  supply  the  wants  that  arose.  The  Cal- 
vert Beneficial  Society  was  established  under  his 
auspices  in  Aj^ril,  and  in  the  autumn  of  1835  we  find 
him  ordaining  at  Mount  St.  Mary's  candidates  who  had 
completed  their  course.  On  the  29tli  of  October  he  as- 
sembled the  clergymen  in  an  ecclesiastical  retreat.  The 
next  year  showed  the  wavering  of  public  opinion  in 
regard  to  Catholics.  If  a  Protestant  gentleman  like 
Pemberton  Morris  paid  a  spontaneous  and  eloquent 
tribute  to  the  merit  and  value  of  Catholic  education 
as  he  beheld  it  at  Georgetown  College ;  if  General 
William  H.  Harrison  visited  Mount  St.  Mary's,  a 
violent  anti-Catholic  petition  was  soon  after  presented 
to  Congress.^ 

'  Catholic  Almanac,  1835  ;  U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany,  xiv.,  p.  53  ;  xv., 
pp.  52,   101  ;  N.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  ii.,  p.  288,  313  ;    iii.,  pp.  167-271. 

«  Catholic  Diary,  v.,  p.  23— vi.,  p.  390  ;  Catholic  Herald,  v.,  p.  43. 


444       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Under  the  impulse  given  by  Archbishop  Eccleston, 
new  churches  were  soon  begun  at  Piscataway  and  at 
St.  Joseph's  near  Emmitsburg,  and  in  November,  1837, 
a  colony  of  Visitation  Nuns  from  Georgetown,  under 
Mother  Juliana  Matthews,  established  a  convent  and 
academy  on  Mulberry  Street,  Baltimore.^ 

In  his  visitation  of  1837,  Archbishop  Eccleston  found 
a  recently  erected  school  at  Bryantown  prospering, 
and  the  frequentation  of  the  sacraments  increasing  ; 
Hagerstown  also  showed  activity.^ 

Following  the  exami)le  of  his  predecessor  Archbishop 
Eccleston  convened  a  Provincial  Council  in  1837,  which 
met  on  the  16th  of  April.  It  was  attended  by  Bishop 
Rosati  of  St.  Louis,  Bishops  Fenwick  of  Boston  ; 
Kenrick,  Coadjutor  and  Administrator  of  Philadel- 
phia ;  Purcell  of  Cincinnati,  Chabrat,  Coadjutor  of 
Bardstown,  Clancy,  Coadjutor  of  Charleston,  Brute, 
Bishop  of  Vincennes,  and  Blanc,  Bishop  of  New 
Orleans.  Bishop  Du  Bois  of  New  York,  though 
urgently  entreated  by  his  Metropolitan,  declined  to 
attend  the  Council,  though  he  sent  his  views  in  regard 
to  its  work.^ 

After  a  sermon  by  Rt.  Rev.  Francis  Patrick  Ken- 
rick, Bishop  of  Arath,  the  Council  opened.  Bishops 
Chabrat,  Clancy,  Brute,  and  Blanc,  who  had  not  at- 
tended any  previous  council,  making  their  profession 
of  faith. 

Bishop  Rese  of  Detroit,  who  was  in  Baltimore  but 
did  not  take  part  in  the  Council,  on  the  15th  of  April 
sent  to  the  Metropolitan  and  the  assembled  bishops  a 

'  Catholic  Almanac,  1839  ;  Scharf ,  Chronicles  of  Baltimore,  p.  497. 

2  Rev.  F.  Roloflf  to  Archbishop  Eccleston,  April  6,  1837  ;  Rev.  H. 
Myers  to  same. 

3  Archbishop  Eccleston  to  Bishop  Du  Bois,  March  27,  1837. 


THIRD  PROVINCIAL  COUNCIL.  445 

letter  expressing  his  wish  to  resign  the  see  or  commit 
the  administration  of  the  diocese  to  a  coadjutor.  The 
Fatliers  of  tlie  Provincial  Council  accordingly  peti- 
tioned the  Holy  Father  to  accept  the  resignation  and 
to  appoint  a  bishop  to  govern  the  diocese.  A  coad- 
jutor for  the  Bishop  of  New  York  was  also  solicited. 
The  Fathers  also  resolved  to  petition  the  Pope  to  erect 
episcopal  sees  at  Pittsburg,  Nashville,  Natchez,  and 
Dubuque. 

The  decrees  of  this  Council  regarded  ordinations,  the 
support  of  aged  and  infirm  priests,  the  proper  employ- 
ment of  money,  etc.,  given  for  pious  uses,  the  bringing 
of  lawsuits  against  clergy  or  religious,  the  collection 
of  money  by  priests  from  other  parts  without 
authority,  and  ecclesiastical  music.  The  use  of  the 
ceremonial  prepared  by  Bislioj)s  Rosati  and  Fenwick 
by  direction  of  the  Second  Provincial  Council,  and  of 
the  new  edition  of  the  Roman  Ritual,  were  enjoined. 
To  make  the  observance  more  uniform  and  easy  to  be 
carried  out,  the  Fathers  resolved  to  solicit  the  Sove- 
reign Pontiff  to  dispense  with  the  obligation  of  keeping 
Easter  Monday  and  Whitmonday  as  holidays,  and 
AVednesdays  in  Advent  as  fast  days. 

Pope  Gregory  XVI.  acceded  to  the  requests  of  the 
Council  in  all  respects  except  the  case  of  Rt.  Rev.  Dr. 
Rese  of  Detroit.  Three  new  sees  were  established,  the 
decrees  were  confirmed,  and  the  Ritual  and  Ceremonial 
were  approved.^ 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  Council,  the  Archbishoji 
of  Baltimore  with  eight  of  the  bishops  proceeded  to 
Frederick,  Md.,  where  the  Church  of  St.  John,  erected 
by  the  venerable  Father  John  McElroy,  was  solemnly 

'  "Concilium  Baltimorense  Provinciale  III.,  habitum  anno  1837," 
Baltimore,  Bait.  1840  ;  in  "  Concilia  Provincialia  Baltimori  habita,"  Balti- 
more, 1842,  1851  ;  Fasciculus,  Rome,  1840,  1841. 


446       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

consecrated  by  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  Eccleston, 
who  subsequently  offered  a  solemn  pontifical  mass.^ 
A  solemn  mass  was  offered  next  day  by  Bishop  Rosati 
of  St.  Louis,  and  sermons  were  delivered  by  Bishops 
England  and  Purcell  and  Rev.  John  Hughes.     Seldom 


REV.   JOHN   MCELROY,   S.J. 


has  any  church  in  this  country  been  consecrated  with 
greater  pomp.     Several  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Council 

'  The  corner-stone  was  laid  March  19,  1833  ;  tlie  consecration  took 
place  April  26,  1887.  The  altar,  crucifixes,  and  candlesticks  were  a  gift 
of  Very  Rev.  John  Roothaan,  General  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. .  Wood- 
stock Letters,  v.,  p.  110  ;  Truth  Teller,  xv.,  p.  861. 


STATE  OF  THE  DIOCESE.  447 

with  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop  took  part,  May  8,  in 
the  dedication  of  the  new  Carmelite  Chapel.' 

In  a  letter  to  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Faith  the  Archbishop  estimated  the  Catholics  in 
Maryland  at  70,000  ;  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
at  10,000 ;  and  in  Virginia  at  9000.  They  had  61 
churches  or  chapels,  eight  of  them  in  the  diocese  of 
Richmond.  Twelve  smaller  congregations  were  yet 
without  churches.  His  clergy  numbered  74.  The 
colored  people  were  a  field  on  which  he  desired  to 
enter,  but  he  wrote:  "Far  from  being  able  to  do 
what  I  could  wish  for  the  salvation  of  the  unfortunate 
negroes,  I  find  myself  unable  to  meet  the  wants  of 
thousands  of  whites,  who,  equally  deprived  of  the  help 
of  religion,  feel  their  spiritual  dereliction  all  the  more 
keenly."  His  petit  seminaire  of  St.  Charles  was  still 
unfinished,  lack  of  means  having  compelled  him  to 
suspend  work  upon  it.  On  this  institution  he  built 
many  hopes  as  a  means  of  supplying  well-tested 
students  for  St.  Mary's  Seminary.  ^ 

He  stimulated  the  opening  of  schools,  and  saw  with 
satisfaction  St.  Vincent's  Female  Benevolent  School 
begin  at  Martinsburg,  and  a  free  school  at  Norfolk, 
both  under  Sisters  of  Charity.  An  infirmary  under 
their  care  was  soon  established  at  Richmond. 

The  churches  in  the  capital  of  the  United  States 
were  already  inadequate  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  faithful.  Another  was  projected  by  Very  Rev. 
William  Matthews,  for  thirty-five  years  pastor  of  St. 
Patrick's.  The  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  laid  the 
corner-stone  of  St.  Matthews'  Church  on  the  21st  of 
October,  1838.     The  new  church  was  to  be  fifty-seven 


'  Currier,  "  Carmel  in  America,"  p.  205. 
^  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  x.,  p.  494. 


448       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

feet  by  one  hundred  and  two,  and  its  erection  was 
aided  by  the  liberal  contributions  of  V.  Rev.  Mr. 
Matthews.  On  its  completion  it  was  solemnly  dedi- 
cated by  Archbishop  Eccleston,  September  21,  1840. 
A  church  at  Ellicott's  Mills  was  dedicated  in  Decem- 
ber, 1838.' 

The  debt  on  the  Cathedral  was  a  serious  drawback 
to  the  prosperity  of  the  diocese,  and  early  in  1839  the 
Archbishop  organized  the  Cathedral  Fund  Association 
in  the  hope  of  being  able,  by  appeals  to  the  charitable 
zeal  of  the  faithful  to  lighten  the  burthen. 

In  August  an  event  occurred,  which  in  the  condition 
of  the  public  mind,  poisoned  by  the  prejudices  created 
at  Boston  and  New  York,  might  have  proved  dis- 
astrous to  the  lives  and  property  of  Catholics  in 
Baltimore.  Miss  Olivia  Neale,  of  the  ancient  Mary- 
land family  which  had  given  to  the  Church  a  holy 
archbishop  and  so  many  jpriests  and  religious  of  both 
sexes,  entered  the  community  in  her  youth,  and  as 
Sister  Isabella  had  for  nearly  twenty  years  worn  the 
garb  of  Our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel.  She  had  for 
some  time  been  subject  to  fits  of  melancholy,  and 
showed  mental  alienation.  She  was  not,  however, 
placed  under  restraint,  and  went  freely  to  all  parts 
of  the  house.  On  Sunday,  August  18,  she  sprang 
through  the  kitchen  window  and  rushed  out  into  the 
street.  She  soon  found  refuge  in  the  house  of  Mr. 
Wilcox,  who  notified  the  Mayor  and  also  the  Arch- 
bishop. By  the  time  Most  Rev.  Dr.  Eccleston  reached 
the  convent  the  streets  were  thronged  by  excited 
groups  clamoring  for  the  destruction  of  the  convent. 
A  bigot  named  Breckenridge  had  by  violent  denunci- 


'  Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  p.  349  ;  Catholic  Herald,  vi.,  p.  316,  413  ;   Catho- 
lic Advocate,  iii.,  p.  385. 


THE  CARMELITES.  449 

ations  of  Catholics  from  liis  pulpit  stirred  up  a  spirit 
of  hostility  which  now  menaced  the  public  peace.  The 
Mayor  caused  the  unfortunate  lady  to  be  conveyed  to 
Washington  Medical  College,  and  with  Judge  Worth- 
ington  made  a  thorough  examination  of  the  convent 
and  questioned  each  religious  ;  but  his  assurances  did 
not  satisfy  the  mob.  William  George  Read,  an  able 
and  eloquent  lawyer,  with  a  few  brave  gentlemen 
repelled  the  attack  of  the  rabble.  When  afterwards 
questioned  before  the  House  of  Delegates,  "What 
did  you  intend  doing  if  the  mob  had  broken  into  the 
convent?"  he  startled  them  all  by  his  calm  reply: 
"To  have  died  on  the  threshold  !  " 

But  a  few  men  could  not  long  withstand  the  in- 
creasing mob  ;  the  military  were  ordered  out,  and  by 
calm  and  patient  ilrmness  after  three  days'  guard  suc- 
ceeded in  restoring  peace  and  calm.  During  these 
terrible  hours  the  Sisters  in  the  Convent  were  in  con- 
stant terror.  Not  an  eye  closed  in  sleep :  all  night 
they  knelt  before  the  altar  beseeching  Our  Lord 
to  still  the  angry  tempest  and  save  the  misguided 
men  from  committing  deeds  of  violence  and  blood. 
The  best  physicians  of  Baltimore,  examining  Sister 
Isabella,  agreed  that  she  was  out  of  her  mind  and  had 
not  suffered  in  any  way  from  want  of  proper  food  or 
care,  and  showed  no  sign  of  ill-treatment ;  but  un- 
scrupulous men  continued  to  excite  odium  against  the 
helpless  ladies  of  the  Convent.^ 

When  the  fierce  passions  had  somewhat  subsided, 
Archbishop  Eccleston  on  the  31st  of  August  addressed 


'Currier:  "  Carmel  in  America,"  Baltimore,  1890,  pp.  213,  etc. 
Scharff,  "  Chronicles  of  Baltimore,"  p.  499.  Catholic  Herald,  vii.,  pp. 
277,  331  ;  Cross,  "  Priests'  Prisons  for  Women,"  Baltimore,  1854.  Tlie 
robbery  of  the  Cathedral,  February  10,  1840,  is  an  indication  of  the  evil 
spirit  of  the  times.     Chronicle  Bait.,  p.  501. 


450       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

a  letter  to  General  S,  C.  Leakiii,  Mayor  of  the  city, 
thanking  him  and  those  who  cooperated  with  him  for 
the  protection  afforded  to  the  Carmelite  Convent. 
"It  is  with  the  deepest  grief  that  I  have  witnessed 
those  scenes  of  violence,  which  you  were  called  on  to 
repel, — scenes  but  little  in  accordance  with  the  spirit 
of  the  Catholic  pilgrims  who  first  landed  on  our  shores, 
and  offered  the  open  hand  of  fellowship  to  the  perse- 
cuted of  every  creed  and  clime.  In  Baltimore,  espec- 
ially, I  was  not  prepared  to  expect  them,  where  the 
very  name  of  the  city  reminds  us  of  the  Catholic 
founder  of  Maryland,  one  of  the  earliest  and  truest 
friends  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  Yet  it  is  in  this 
city  that  we   have  witnessed   a  cruel   and  unmanly 

SIGNATURE   OF   ARCHBISHOP   ECCLESTON. 

attack  upon  the  reputations  and  peaceful  abode  of 
inoffensive  women,  many  of  whom  are  descended  from 
the  first  colonists  of  Maryland,  and  who,  holding  still 
the  faith  of  their  fathers,  have  chosen  to  enter  into  a 
religious  community,  and  divide  their  time  between 
the  practice  of  p)rayer,  self-denial,  and  the  instruction 
of  youth." 

On  the  1st  of  September  a  numerous  meeting  of 
Catholics  Avas  held  in  Baltimore  to  devise  plans  for 
facilitating  and  generalizing  the  means  of  religious 
instruction  and  placing  before  their  fellow-citizens  of 
other  creeds  facts  to  remove  the  mists  of  prejudice 
from  their  minds.  Out  of  this  grew  the  Catholic 
Tract  Society  of  Baltimore  ;  the  constitution  and  by- 

'  Letter  of  Archbishop  Eccleston,  Catholic  Herald,  vii.,  p.  331. 


THE  BRECKENRIDGE  CASE.  451 

laws  of  which  were  approved  by  Archbishop  Eccleston, 
December  9,  .and  which  organized  with  Rev.  John  B. 
Gildea  as  President,  William  George  Read  as  Vice 
President,  and  Rev.  John  J.  Chanche  as  head  of  the 
Executive  Committee.  The  society  continued  its  work 
for  a  time,  but  like  all  similar  attempts  among  Cath- 
olics never  grew  into  a  permanent  institution.^ 

Rev.  Mr.  Breckenridge,  in  a  magazine  published 
full  of  shameful  attacks  on  the  Catholics,  charged 
James  L.  Maguire,  the  keeper  of  the  Almshouse,  with 
having  at  the  instigation  of  a  priest  entrapped  a  Ger- 
man into  the  institution  and  kept  him  conhned  as  a 
lunatic.  For  this  he  and  his  publisher  were  indicted 
and  brought  to  trial.  Although  it  was  shown  that  the 
charge  was  unfounded,  that  the  man  came  of  his  own 
accord  and  was  admitted  on  a  second  application, 
remaining  for  two  days  till  removed  by  his  family, 
the  court  leaned  strongly  in  favor  of  the  minister  and 
the  jury  failed  to  agree.  Rev.  Mr.  Breckenridge  made 
no  attempt  to  show  that  a  Catholic  priest  had  taken 
any  part  in  the  whole  matter.^ 

On  the  19th  of  April  the  Rev.  Dr.  John  Tessier  of 
Saint  Sulpice  expired  at  the  seminary  in  Baltimore. 
Born  at  Chapelle  Blanche,  June  20,  1758,  he  received 
priest's  orders  in  1782,  and  was  a  professor  of  theology 
when  the  venerable  Mr.  Nagot  prepared  to  establish 
a  Sulpitian  seminary  in  Baltimore.  Rev.  Mr.  Tessier 
accompanied  him  in  1791,  and  after  exercising  the  min- 
istry on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland  became  profes- 
sor of  theology  in  the  seminary,  and  was  active  in 
founding  St.  Mary's  College.     On  the  resignation  of 

1  "  Address  of  the  Editorial  Committee  of  tlie  Catholic  Tract  Society 
of  Baltimore  to  the  Public."    Baltimore,  1839. 

2  "  A  Full  Report  of  the  Trial  of  the  Rev.  Robert  J.  Breckenridge,  on 
an  indictment  for  libel  on  James  L.  Maguire,"  Baltimore,  1840. 


452       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Rev.  Mr.  Nagot  he  became  Superior,  and  remained  in 
office  till  1829.  His  profound  learning aijd  solid  judg- 
ment made  him  an  invaluable  counsellor  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore.  He  died  respected  for  his  ser- 
vices to  religion,  his  piety,  charity,  and  zeal.^ 

The  fourth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  assem- 
bled on  the  16th  of  May,  1840,  under  the  Most  Rev. 
Samuel  Eccleston,  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  and  was 
attended  by  Bishops  Flaget  of  Bardstown,  Rosati  of 
St.  Louis,  Fenwick  of  Boston,  Portier  of  Mobile,  Ken- 
rick  of  Arath,  Administrator  of  Philadelphia,  Purcell 
of  Cincinnati,  Blanc  of  New  Orleans,  Loras  of  Du- 
buque, Miles  of  Nashville,  De  la  Hailandiere  of  Vin- 
cennes,  and  also  by  Mgr.  Charles  Augustus  Joseph  de 
Forbin-Janson,  Bishop  of  Nancy  and  Toul,  Primate 
of  Lorraine,  whose  labors  in  America  induced  the 
Archbishop  to  invite  him  to  the  Council.  There  were 
present  also  Very  Rev.  Charles  P.  Montgomery,  Pro- 
vincial of  the  Dominicans,  Very  Rev.  Joseph  Prost, 
Superior  of  the  Redemptorists,  Very  Rev..L.  R.  De- 
luol  and  Rev.  John  J.  Chanche  of  St.  Sulpice,  theo- 
gians  of  the  Metropolitan  Church. 

The  decrees  adopted  were  eleven  in  number.  They 
exhorted  the  clergy  to  caution  the  faithful  against  the 
danger  of  mixed  marriages  ;  enacted  that  where  there 
were  more  than  one  priest  attached  to  a  church,  only 
the  one  named  as  rector  had  the  power  of  administer- 
ing the  affairs  of  the  church  ;  advised  bishops  by 
diocesan  statutes  to  regulate  the  equitable  division  of 
perquisites  for  baptisms,  marriages,  masses,  etc.  The 
fourth  canon  inculcated  the  sanctification  of  the  Lord's 
day,  and  enjoined  preaching  and  catechism  as  well  as 


'  N.  Y.  Catholic  Register,  i.,  p.  266  ;  Moreau,  "  Les  Prgtres  Franpais 
emigres  aux  Etats  Unis."     Paris,  1856,  pp.  83-190. 


FOURTH  PROVINCIAL  COUNCIL.  453 

frequent  warning  by  the  clergy  of  their  flocl^s  against 
places  where  liquor  was  sold.  They  w^ere  to  witlihokl 
the  sacraments  from  those  who  sold  liquor  on  Sunday 
or  encouraged  intoxication.  Total  abstinence  societies 
were  to  be  encouraged,  yet  the  faithful  were  to  be 
urged  not  to  trust  to  human  strength,  but  to  seek  God's 
aid  by  prayer  and  by  frequenting  the  sacraments. 

The  danger  to  Catholic  youth  of  public  schools 
where  they  were  designedly  trained  to  accept  the 
Protestant  Bible,  and  were  imbued  with  Protestant 
prayers,  hymns,  and  prejudices,  was  pointed  out,  and 
the  clergy  were  exhorted  to  labor  earnestly  to  secure 
Catholic  children  a  Christian  and  Catholic  education. 
The  rule  of  the  Church  forbidding  the  faithful  to  enter 
secret  societies  bound  by  oath  was  to  be  made  known 
from  time  to  time  and  enforced.  Regulations  were 
made  in  regard  to  ecclesiastical  property  held  by 
bishops.  Registers  of  ordinations  and  acceptance  into 
the  diocese  of  priests  were  to  be  regularly  kept.  The 
clergy  were  exhorted  to  cultivate  the  virtues  becoming 
their  state,  and  to  avoid  all  that  could  give  scandal  or 
prove  an  injury  to  souls. 

Besides  the  letter  to  be  sent  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff, 
the  Council  also  drew  up  a  letter  of  sympathy  and 
encouragement  to  Mgr.  Droste  de  Vischering,  Arch- 
bishop of  Cologne,  and  Mgr.  Dunin,  Archbishop  of 
Gnesen  and  Posen,  then  suffering  persecution  for  their 
fidelity  to  the  laws  of  the  Church.  The  Leopoldine 
Association  was  thanked  in  another  letter  for  its  aid 
to  missions  in  the  United  States. 

The  decrees  were  transmitted  to  Rome  and  confirmed 
by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  on  the  22d  of  November.^ 

'  Concilium  Provinciate  Baltimorense  IV.  Letter  of  Cardinal  Fran- 
soni,  Dec.  19, 1840.  At  this  time  the  feast  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  was 
transferred  to  the  following  Sunday  and  ceased  to  be  a  holiday  of  obli- 


454       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  pastoral  letter  of  the  Council  congratulated  the 
faithful  on  the  progress  of  the  Church.  Seminaries 
had  increased  in  number  and  efRciency ;  religious 
houses,  especially  of  females,  had  been  multix^lied. 
Churches  and  asylums  were  constantly  arising ;  the 
sacraments  were  more  generally  respected  and  re- 
ceived. The  hope  was  exi:)ressed  that  Massachusetts 
would  yet  compensate  the  victims  of  the  riot  in 
Charlestown.  Of  the  infamous  anti-catholic  literature 
that  had  been  poured  on  the  country,  the  Pastoral 
said  :  "The  miserable  libels  have  had  their  day  ;  their 
compilers  and  the  unfortunate  and  degraded  instru- 
ments of  their  guilt,  if  not  already  fallen  to  their 
proper  level,  are  fast  sinking  in  the  estimation  of  those 
whom  they  sought  to  delude."  But  though  dishonest 
attacks  were  still  made  on  Catholics  and  their  faith, 
Catholics  were  urged  to  bear  the  persecution  patiently, 
to  pray  for  their  enemies,  and  to  avoid  all  temptation 
to  retaliate.  The  importance  of  religious  education, 
now  more  necessary  than  ever,  was  explained  and 
inculcated.  The  unerring  authority  of  the  Church 
was  made  clear,  while  the  followers  of  those  who  left 
the  Church  cannot  agree  in  specifying  what  they 
allege  to  be  erroneous,  or  pretend  to  be  exempt  from 
error  in  declaring  what  is  true.  The  questions  in 
regard  to  the  Holy  Scriptures  were  considered.  The 
increase  of  Catholic  seminaries,  colleges,  and  schools 
was  shown  to  be  necessary.  The  topics  of  mixed  mar- 
riages and  oath-bound  secret  societies  were  treated. 
The  Pastoral  also  entered  upon  the  great  elections 
where  calumny,  fraud  and  violence  were  so  freely  used, 

gation,  and  the  fast  on  the  vigil  was  also  dispensed  with.  Abstinence 
on  Saturday  was  also  dispensed  with  for  twenty  years.  "  Concilia  Pro- 
vincialia  Baltimori  habita  ab  anno  1829,  usque  ad  annum  1840,"  Balti- 
more, 1842.     Rome,  1840,  1841. 


A  BISHOP  FOR  RICHMOND.  455 

''and  thus  what  was  meant  to  be  a  blessing  is  turned 
into  a  curse."  The  faithful  were  entreated  to  avoid 
the  contaminating  influence  of  political  strife,  and 
to  keep  aloof  from  tlie  pestilential  atmosphere  in 
which  honor,  virtue,  patriotism  and  religion  perish." 
Fidelity  to  their  religion  and  to  the  means  of  grace 
wliich  it  afforded  was  commended  with  persuasive 
words.  ^ 

Archbishop  Eccleston  had  felt  that  Virginia  would 
gain  by  having  a  bishop  appointed  to  the  see  of  Rich- 
mond, and  the  Council  recommended  Rev.  Richard 
Vincent  Whelan,  a  zealous  missioner  in  that  diocese, 
for  Bishop.  They  advised  the  erection  of  a  see  at 
Natchez,  and  proposed  Rev.  John  J.  Chanche,  Presi- 
dent of  St.  Mary's  College,  for  Bishop.  As  Right  Rev. 
Dr.  Rese  still  remained  suspended,  Rev.  John  M. 
Odin  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Missions  was  proposed 
as  Coadjutor  and  Administrator. 

Relieved  from  the  care  of  the  Virginia  missions. 
Archbishop  Eccleston  could  devote  himself  entirely  to 
fostering  religion  in  his  native  State.  The  attendance 
of  the  Superior  of  the  Redemptorists,  Very  Rev. 
Father  Prost,  at  the  Provincial  Council,  soon  bore 
fruit.  Circumstances  compelled  him  to  visit  Baltimore 
soon  afterwards,  and  the  Archbishop  immediately  ex- 
pressed to  him  a  desire  and  intention  of  transferring 
to  his  order  the  German  congregation  of  St.  John's 
Church.  The  Redemptorist  Superior  had  made  all 
preparations  for  a  voyage  to  Europe  on  important 
business,  but  he  yielded  to  the  entreaty  of  Most  Rev. 
Dr.  Eccleston.  To  the  joy  of  the  Archbishop  the 
Redemptorists  consented  to  accept  the  care  of  the 
German  Catholics  in  Baltimore.    They  took  possession 

'  Pastoral  of  the  Fourth  Provincial  Council,  Baltimore,  1840.    Catholic 
Register,  i.,  p  297. 


456      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

in  August,  1840,  and  soon  found,  as  tlie  last  rector  had 
done,  that  a  new  church  was  imperatively  required. 
Land  on  Saratoga  Street  was  purchased,  and  plans 
drawn  for  a  fine  large  church.  The  corner-stone  was 
laid  on  the  1st  of  May,  1842,  by  Rev.  Joseph  Salz- 
bacher,  Canon  of  St.  Stephen's  Cathedral,  Vienna, 
who,  with  the  authority  of  his  superiors  in  Rome  and 
Vienna,  was  making  a  tour  of  the  United  States  in 
order  to  study  the  actual  condition  of  the  German 
Catholics.  The  procession  moved  from  the  old  church 
with  the  seminarians  from  St.  Mary's,  and  soci- 
eties displaying  their  banners,  and  the  ceremony 
was  carried  out  hj  the  Canon  in  full  accordance 
with  the  Ritual.  The  noble  church,  150  feet  long 
and  68  wide,  rose  steadily  under  the  careful  econ- 
omy of  Father  Alexander  Czwitkowicz,  who  soon 
assumed  the  direction.  The  German  Catholics  of 
Baltimore  were  reckoned  at  this  time  as  five  thou- 
sand souls.  ^ 

The  Redemptorists  thus  began  their  labors  in  Mary- 
land, and  opened  near  St.  James  their  house  of  studies 
with  six  pupils. 

During  the  year  1841  the  Church  of  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul  on  Front  Street,  Baltimore,  was  dedicated  on  the 
14th  of  November  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  J.  Chanche, 
Bishop  of  Natchez,  and  was  occupied  by  the  congre- 
gation which  had  worshiped  in  St.  James'  Church, 
now  transferred  to  the  Germans,  whose  former  church, 
St.  John's,  had  been  abandoned. 

In  May  Archbishop  Eccleston  had  dedicated  St. 
Joseph's  Church,  Emmitsburg,  Rt.  Rev.  Richard  V. 

'  Salzbacher,  "  Meine  Reise  nach  Nord-Amerika  im  Jahre,  1843," 
Vienna,  1845,  ii.,  pp.  130-1  ;  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen-Stiftung,  parfc 
xvi.,  p.  16-18  ;  Berger,  Life  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  N.  Neumann,  New  York, 
1884,  p.  245-251.    U.  S.  Cath.  Magazine,  i.,  p.  356. 


MOTHER  ROSE   WHITE.  467 

AVhelan,  Bishop  of  Richmond,  offering  a  pontifical 
high  mass. 

The  Church  was  gaining,  moreover,  by  conversions, 
the  very  violence  of  her  enemies  leading  many 
thoughtful  minds  to  study  her  doctrines  and  her 
claims.  Among  others  may  be  mentioned  Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  Bache,  U.  S.  JN".,  who  had  been  pro- 
fessor of  chemistry  in  Kenyon  College,  He  was  re- 
ceived into  the  fold  at  St.  Matthew's  Church,  Wash- 
ington, in  May, 

On  the  25th  of  July  expired,  at  St.  John's  Orphan 
Asylum,  Frederick,  Mother  Rose  White,  the  first 
associate  of  Mrs.  Seton,  and  on  her  death  elected 
Superior  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  She  presided  over 
the  community  with  great  ability,  and  was  repeatedly 
chosen  to  the  high  position.  She  had  been  active  in 
founding  houses  of  the  Sisters  in  Philadelphia  and 
]S"ew  York,  and  on  retiring  from  the  office  of  Superior 
in  1839  took  charge  of  the  Orphan  Asylum  and  School 
at  Frederick,  Avliere  she  crowned  by  a  holy  death  a 
life  devoted  in  sweetness  and  charity  to  the  good  of 
her  neighbor. ' 

In  the  following  year  the  corner-stone  of  Calvert 
Hall,  an  academy  for  young  men,  was  laid  on  the  site 
of  St.  Peter's  Church,  the  pro-cathedral  of  Archbishop 
Carroll,  reopened  years  after  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  largely  increased  Catholic  flock  in  the  city.  The 
Archbishop  officiated  on  the  occasion,  and  the  next 
day  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a  new  church  in  honor  of 
St.  John,  at  the  corner  of  Park  and  Saratoga  streets.'^ 

Regretting  that  nothing  was  done  to  honor  Leonard 
Calvert  and  the  pioneers  of  Maryland,  Father  James 

'  Catholic  Herald,  ix.,  p.  375  ;  lb.,  p.  172  ;  lb.,  p.  244  ;  lb.  p.  245. 
^  Baltimore  Sun,  April  30,  1842  ;  Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  p.  122. 


458       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Ryder  had  roused  the  patriotic  zeal  of  the  members 
of  the  Philodemic  Society,  which  he  had  founded  at 
Georgetown  College.  The  young  men  took  the  sub- 
ject up  zealously,  and  it  was  resolved  to  celebrate  in 
May  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  city  of  St.  Mary's,  the 
landing  of  the  Catholic  pilgrims  of  Marjdand.  The 
idea  was  caught  up  enthusiastically,  and  not  only  the 
College  society  with  many  persons  from  Georgetown, 
Washington,  and  Alexandria  embarked  on  steamers 


REV.    JAMES   RYDER. 


for  the  cradle  of  Maryland,  but  from  Baltimore  and 
other  points  on  the  Chesapeake  came  numerous  dele- 
gations, headed  by  the  Calvert  Beneficial  Society. 
George  Washington  Parke  Custis,  stepson  of  George 
Washington,  Hon.  William  Cost  Johnson,  Hon.  John 
P.  Kennedy,  the  Mayor  of  Washington,  and  other 
dignitaries  came  to  witness  the  celebration  on  the  lOtli 
of  May.  The  services  began  with  a  pontifical  high 
mass  celebrated  in  the  venerable  church  of  St.  Inigoe's 


THE  PILGRIMS  OF  MARYLAND.  459 

by  the  Most  Reverend  Archbishop  of  Baltimore,  after 
which  the  Rt.  Rev.  Benedict  J.  Fenwick  of  Boston, 
himself  a  descendant  of  the  pilgrims,  addressed  them 
in  eloquent  words  inspired  by  the  scene.  Then  the 
Avhole  assemblage  proceeded  to  the  site  of  the  original 
settlement  and  capital  of  Maryland.  The  shores  of 
the  beautiful  harbor,  so  long  given  over  to  silence 
and  neglect,  were  suddenly  enlivened  by  a  vast 
concourse  of  thousands,  many  descendants  of  the 
original  settlers,  gathered  from  St.  Mary's  and 
Charles  counties,  filled  with  enthusiasm  by  the 
glorious  memories  of  the  past.  After  a  j)rayer  by 
Rev.  James  Ryder,  President  of  Georgetown  Col- 
lege, William  George  Read,  Esq.,  of  Baltimore,  pro- 
nounced a  discourse,  which  had  been  regarded  as  a 
masterpiece.^ 

Enthusiasm  was  awakened.  The  next  year  the 
Landing  of  the  Pilgrims  was  celebrated  in  Baltimore, 
in  Emmitsburg,  and  even  in  Philadelphia.  The  anni- 
versary was  observed  for  several  years,  the  Philodemic 
Society  on  several  occasions  celebrating  the  day  on  the 
venerated  site  of  St.  Mary's,  near  the  old  mulberry 
tree  and  the  ruined  wall  which  alone  recalled  the 
past.^ 

On  the  14th  of  May,  1843,  Baltimore  again  beheld 
nearly  the  whole  episcopate  assemble  within  the  ven- 
erable w^alls  of  the  Cathedral  to  hold  the  fifth  Provin- 


'  "  Oration  delivered  at  the  First  Commemoration  of  the  Landing  of  the 
Pilgrims  of  Maryland,  celebrated  May  10,  1842,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Philodemic  Society  of  Georgetown  College,  by  William  George 
Read."  Baltimore.  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  i.,  p.  357;  Notes  of 
Bishop  Fenwick. 

'^  Discourses  by  W.  G.  Read,  Rev.  P.  Corry,  Hon.  John  C.  Legrand, 
1843;  James  McSherry,  George  H.  Miles,  1847;  F.  J.  Nelson,  1848; 
Z.  Collins  Lee,  1849  ;  Joseph  R.  Chandler,  1855,  and  others. 


460       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

cial  Council.      The   gradually  increasing  number   of 
bishops,  the  jDresence   of    several  heads  of  religious 
orders,  the  grandeur  of  the  ceremonial  all  combined  to 
impress  beholders  with  the  material  and  moral  prog- 
ress of   the    Catholic    body  in    the    United    States. 
Around  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  now  gathered 
the  Bishops  of  Boston,  Mobile,  Philadelphia,  Cincin- 
nati, New  Orleans,  Dubuque,  New  York,  Nashville, 
Vincennes,  Natchez,  and  Richmond  ;   the  Coadjutor 
Bishops  of  Louisville,    St.    Louis,  and  Detroit,    the 
Administrator  of  Charleston  and  the  Vicar  Apostolic 
of  the  neighboring  republic  of  Texas.     The  venerable 
form  of  Bishop  Flaget  of   Louisville,    now  bending 
under  the  weight  of  years,"  was  no  longer  to  be  seen, 
and  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  had  been  summoned  to 
Europe.     The  Superiors  of  the  Sulpitians,  Lazarists, 
Jesuits,  and  Augustinians  were  in  attendance.     One 
decree  concerned  the  holding  of  ecclesiastical  prop- 
erty  to   suit   the   various   and   varying  laws   of   the 
States.     Another  prohibited  the  use  of  any  church  for 
discourses  by  laymen;   a  third  declared  any  person 
divorced  by  state  law,  who  remarried,  excommunicated 
ipso    facto ;     the    fourth    decided    that    the    Decree 
"Tametsi"  of  the  Council  of  Trent  was  limited  in 
the  diocese  of  Detroit  to  the  city  ;   the  decree  of  that 
council  as  to  residence  of  pastors  was  to  be  enforced. 
The  sixth  forbid  rash  incurring  of  debt  in  building  or 
enlarging  churches  ;   the  seventh  required  keeping  of 
books  in  every  church   and   forbid   the  mingling  of 
church  and  private  funds.     The  Ritual  as  prepared  by 
Bishop  Rosati  was  approved  ;  and  the  recently  estab- 
lished Tract  Societies  Avere  commended.      The  ninth 
made  the  erection  and  the  use  of  confessionals  obli- 
gatory,  and   the   eleventh   urged  on  the   clergy  the 
necessity  of    prompt   and   continual    attendance   on 


FIFTH  BALTIMORE  COUNCIL.  461 

the  sick  to  afford  them  all  the  consolations  of 
religion.  ^ 

The  letter  of  the  Council  to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff 
mentioned  as  a  sign  of  progress  that  forty-three 
churches  had  been  erected  in  a  single  diocese  within 
three  or  four  years.  The  missions  to  the  Indians  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains  were  extending,  and  a  mission 
had  been  undertaken  in  Liberia.  The  attacks  on 
Catholics  and  their  doctrine,  the  misrepresentations 
and  constant  effort  to  seduce  the  uneducated  were 
noted,  as  well  as  the  attempt  to  hold  them  up  as  dis- 
loyal to  the  republic.  The  Fathers  of  the  Council 
solicited  the  erection  of  sees  at  Hartford,  Chicago, 
Little  Rock,  Milwaukee,  and  Oregon.  They  also  pro- 
posed candidates  for  the  see  of  Charleston  and  as 
coadjutors  of  Boston  and  New  York. 

The  decrees  of  the  Council  were  confirmed  by  Pope 
Gregory  XVI.  September  24,  1843.  The  pastoral  let- 
ter bore  on  the  subjects  discussed  in  the  council.'^ 

Although  St.  John's  Church  had  been  succeeded  by 
a  church  dedicated  to  St.  Al^ihonsus,  and  St.  Peter's 
by  Calvert  Hall,  new  churches,  bearing  names  around 
which  so  many  pious  associations  clustered,  were  soon 
erected.^ 

'  Concilium  Provinciale  Baltimorense  V.  habitum  anno  1843."  Balti- 
more, 1844.  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine, ii.,  p.  376.  Catholic  Herald,  xii., 
p.  76. 

*  "  Pastoral  Letter  of  the  Most  Rev.  Archbishop.  .  .  .  and  Bishops, 
....  assembled  in  Provincial  Council in  May,  1843."  Balti- 
more. 

^U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  ii.,  pp.  121-637  ;  Scharf,  Chronicle  of  Bal- 
timore, p.  508. 


CHAPTER  III. 

DIOCESE  OF  BOSTON. 
.  ET.  REV.  BENEDICT  J.  FENWICK,  SECOND  BISHOP,  1829-1843. 

Returning  from  the  first  Provincial  Council, 
Bishop  Fenwick,  who  had  visited  Georgetown  and 
Enimitsbiirg,  was  encouraged  by  the  offer  at  Mount 
St.  Mary's  of  five  seminarians,  to  labor  in  his  diocese, 
whom  he  had  gladly  accepted.  By  the  10th  of  Novem- 
ber he  was  at  Providence  in  his  own  diocese,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Boston,  after  admiring  tlie  neat  and  attrac- 
tive church  at  Pawtucket.  It  was  dedicated  on  Christ- 
mas day.  When  the  year  closed  he  had  the  consola- 
tion of  seeing  that  schools  for  Catholic  children  had 
been  established  at  Craigie's  Point,  Lowell,  Hartford, 
and  Charlestown. 

Early  in  the  next  year  came  tidings  that  notices  had 
been  posted  in  Portland,  Maine,  calling  on  the  Catho- 
lic body  to  organize  and  elect  trustees.  This  attempt 
to  create  trouble  the  Bishop  promptly  suppressed, 
through  the  exertions  of  Rev.  T.  O' Flaherty,  whom 
he  soon  after  made  his  Vicar-General. 

The  little  cemetery  at  St.  Augustine's  chapel  no 
longer  sufficed  for  the  Catholics  of  Boston.  Bishop 
Fenwick  accordingly  purchased  three  acres  of  ground 
on  Bunker  Hill  for  the  purpose.  The  latent  hostility 
to  Catholicity  was  aroused,  and  before  the  close  of 
January  the  stable  on  the  convent  grounds,  in  Charles- 
town,  was  set  on  fire  and  destroyed.^  The  selectmen 
of  Charlestown,  finding  that  this  did  not  deter  the 

'  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoranda";  Truth  Teller,  v.,  p.  390,  vi.,  p.  5. 

462 


HOSTILE  INDICATIONS.  463 

Catliolics,^  raised  obstacles  to  the  use  of  the  ground, 
as  a  cemetery,  and  passed  by-laws  to  prevent  them 
from  using  it  for  that  i)urpose. 

Bishop  Fenwick  disregarded  their  ordinance,  in 
order  to  bring  the  matter  into  the  court,  but  the  select- 
men preferred  to  begin  by  petitioning  the  Legislature 
to  pass  an  act  to  prevent  the  Catholics  from  burying 
their  dead  there.  The  incidents  betoken  only  too 
clearly  the  hostility  of  the  authorities  of  Charlestown, 
and  help  us  to  understand  the  fatal  results  w^liich 
ensued.  The  case  was  ultimately  decided  by  the 
courts  against  the  selectmen.  The  faith  was  spread- 
ing, however ;  the  church  at  New  Bedford  was  dedi- 
cated ;  a  hundred  and  thirty  Catholics  at  Wallingford 
asked  for  a  resident  priest  ;  material  was  prepared  for 
a  church  at  Sandwich;  a  new  paper,  ''The  Catholic 
Expostulator,"  appeared,  edited  by  the  bishop  and 
his  clergy. 

In  March,  Bishop  Fenwick  issued  a  pastoral  letter 
proclaiming  the  Jubilee  granted  by  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff,  and  began  a  series  of  exercises  in  the  Cathe- 
dral to  prepare  his  flock  to  profit  by  the  means  of 
grace.  He  was  consoled  to  see  2178  approach  the 
sacraments.  After  administering  confirmation  at 
Pentecost  to  a  large  nnmber,  he  visited  Hartford  in 
Jane,  where  Rev.  Mr.  Cavanagh  had  completed  a 
church,  60  feet  by  48,  with  a  fine  organ  and  suitable 
sacristies.  It  stood  on  a  valuable  lot,  and  with  its 
towering  steeple  was  highly  creditable  to  the  priest 
and  his  people.  The  church  was  dedicated  to  the 
Holy  Trinity  on  the  17th  of  June,  Demonte's  mass 
being  well  executed,  though  the  organist  was  a  girl 
only  thirteen  years  of  age.^    He  then  proceeded  to 

'  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoranda";  Truth  Teller,  v.,  p.  229  ;  Jesuit, 
i.,  p.  348.     The  report  of  the  case  will  be  found  in  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  350- 


464       THE  CHURCH  IK  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Dudley,  a  place  that  could  then  number  only  fifteen 
Catholics,  but  he  said  mass  for  them  in  Mr.  Price's 
parlor,  and  on  Sunday  evening  by  invitation  preached 
to  a  Protestant  congregation.  Sandwich  had  seventy 
Catholics,  who  had  selected  a  site  and  were  ready  to 
build  a  church.  Visiting  the  town  the  Bishop  was 
pleased  with  the  lot,  and  setting  up  an  altar  in  the 
house  of  Mr.  Doyle,  encouraged  the  little  flock  to 
persevere  in  their  pious  undertaking.  Stimulated  by 
the  examples  around  them  the  faithful  at  Taunton 
asked  permission  to  undertake  a  church.  Bishop  Fen- 
wick  with  great  judgment  permitting  no  rash  or 
improvident  action,  but  examining  the  site  proposed, 
and  weighing  the  resources  of  each  congregation,  lest 
they  should  undertake  anything  beyond  their  means. 

About  this  time  Bishop  Fenwick  received  into  his 
diocese  a  remarkable  and  eccentric  priest,  whose  strict 
ideas  on  the  subject  of  usury  had  involved  him  in 
difficulty  with  his  bishop  in  Ireland,  and  whose  case 
had  been  considered  at  Rome.  This  was  the  Rev. 
Jermiah  O'Callaghan.  After  preaching  in  Irish  in 
the  Cathedral,  this  clergyman  proceeded  in  July,  1830, 
to  the  Vermont  missions  to  which  he  had  been  assigned. 
He  began  his  labors  at  Mr.  Sherlock's  in  Wallingford. 
He  ministered  zealously  and  efficiently  for  many  years, 
in  Vermont,  relieving  the  monotony  of  his  severe  duties 
in  that  mountain  State  by  occasionally  issuing  works 
against  usury,  pew  rents,  or  other  points  that  seemed 
to  him  abuses,  with  an  occasional  controversy  with 
some  enemy  of  the  church. 

In  the  summer  the  Bishop  was  at  Lowell,  where  a 
great  manufacturing  company  gave  a  site  for  a  church, 

'  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoranda."  O'Callaghan,  "  Usury,  Funds,  and 
Banking.  Monopoly  Forestalling  Trafflck.  Gallican  Liberties.  Graves, 
Anatomy"  ;  5th  edition,  New  York,  1856,  pp.  88-91. 


VERMONT.  465 

and  the  four  hundred  Catholics  employed  in  the  thriv- 
ing mills  opened  a  subscription  to  erect  one.  Mean- 
while each  priest  from  his  station  was  giving  Jubilee 
exercises,  and  thus  calling  the  tepid  around  the  altar. 
From  all  sides  came  reports  of  increasing  numbers, 
and  though  the  Bishop  was  receiving  new  candidates 
and  ordaining  those  who  had  completed  their  course, 
he  could  not  meet  all  the  calls  made  on  him.  Rev. 
Mr.  O'Callaghan  had  canvassed  Vermont  and  reported 
that  there  were  a  thousand  Catholics  within  its  bor- 
ders. He  had  already  obtained  a  lot  of  land  on  which 
to  erect  the  first  Catholic  church.  Bishop  Fenwick,  in 
September,  dedicated  the  new  churches  at  Sandwich 
and  Dover,  the  latter  a  neat  gothic  structure,  fifty  feet 
by  thirty-six.  He  next  visited  Portland,  Saco,  and 
Lowell,  doing  missionary  duty  and  giving  confirma- 
tion. Then  he  crossed  the  mountains  to  Vermont. 
At  Vergennes,  where  Rev.  J.  O'Callaghan  resided,  he 
offered  the  holy  sacrifice  at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Nichols, 
a  convert,  preached  in  French  and  English  to  a  con- 
gregation of  seventy  or  eighty,  and  confirmed  six. 
Mrs.  Nichols,  full  of  zeal  for  God's  glory,  offered  the 
Bishop  some  proj)erty  which  she  had  inherited  in 
Connecticut,  to  provide  means  to  erect  a  church.  At 
Burlington  he  officiated  in  Howard's  long  room,  which 
was  filled  to  overflowing.  Here  he  learned  that  Mr. 
Archibald  Hyde,  a  Protestant  lawyer,  had  already  sent 
him  a  deed  of  five  acres  near  the  college  as  a  donation 
to  the  Catholic  cause.  This  gentleman,  though  he 
did  not  become  a  Catholic  for  several  years,  was  the 
steadfast  and  valuable  friend  of  the  church,  testified 
in  many  ways.  Bishop  Fenwick  then  set  out  for 
Claremont,  New  Hampshire,  where  he  officiated  in  the 
little  chapel,  but  found  the  rest  of  Rev.  Virgil  Barber's 
buildings  let  out  to  tenants  and  in  wretched  condition. 


466       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

On  his  way  to  Boston  on  the  20th  of  December  the 
stage  was  overturned,  and  he  was  extricated  from  a 
back  seat  completely  soaked,  but  had  to  travel  all  day 
in  his  wet  clothes. 

The  diocese,  at  the  close- of  1830,  showed  progress. 
At  the  Cathedral  in  Boston  were  the  Bishop,  Rev, 
Messrs.  O' Flaherty,  Wiley,  and  Tyler.  The  baptisms 
were  476,  marriages  92,  conversions  60.  Charlestown 
had  been  detached  from  the  Cathedral  and  had  its 
resident  pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  Byrne.  The  Ursuline  Con- 
vent had  64  boarding  pupils.  The  Church  had  its 
advocates  in  "The  Jesuit"  and  "The Catholic  Press." 
It  was  great  gain  in  those  days  that  of  the  six  New 
England  States  comprised  in  the  diocese,  there  was 
not  one  but  had  at  least  one  Catholic  church  and  one 
priest.^ 

The  conduct  of  a  designing-  girl  named  Rebecca 
Reed,  who  had  been  received  into  the  Church  at 
Charlestown,  and  affecting  great  piety  applied  to  the 
Ursuline  Nuns,  and  was  admitted  for  a  six  months 
term  as  a  probationer,  added  to  the  prejudice  against 
the  Catholic  Church,  for,  before  the  close  of  the  term, 
she  abruptly  left  the  convent  on  the  18th  of  January, 
1832,  and  began  to  circulate  stories  against  the  ladies 
who  had  opened  their  house  to  her. 

Rev.  Lyman  Beecher,  a  Congregationalist  clergy- 
man of  influence,  but  most  unscrupulous,  began  to 
lecture,  furiously  assailing  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  highly  inflaming  the  public  mind.  Bishop 
Fenwick  felt  it  necessary  to  reply  in  a  series  of 
lectures,  during  the  winter  of  1830-31.  Though 
the  streets  were  impeded  by  a  heavy  fall  of  snow, 


'Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoranda" ;  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  334,  348,  361  ;  U.  S. 
Cath.  Miscellany.     Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  v.,  p.  437. 


LECTURES  IN  DEFENSE.  467 

rendering  walking  and  travel  difficult,  the  Cathe- 
dral was  thronged  with  Protestants.  Bishop  Fen- 
wick's  first  lecture  was  devoted  to  the  nature  and 
character  of  the  Catholic  Church,  as  a  prelude  to  a 
discussion  of  its  principles  and  tendency.  These  lec- 
tures, giving  a  true  exposition  of  Catholic  faith,  and 
ultimately  exposing  the  fallacy  of  the  Protestant 
claim  of  founding  their  doctrines  on  the  Scrij^tures 
and  private  judgment,  as  well  as  on  the  character  of 
the  Reformers  as  depicted  by  each  other,  comx)elled 
Beecher  to  withdraw  from  the  field.  Unfortunately, 
the  lectures  reached  the  intelligent  and  liberal  minded 
rather  than  the  class  steeped  in  ignorance  and  preju- 
dice who  most  sorely  needed  light. ^  There  is  an  indi- 
cation that  some,  at  least,  rose  above  these  follies 
and  superstitions  in  the  fact  that  a  fine  vessel  was 
launched  at  Boston  which  was  named  "The  Sove- 
reign Pontiff,"  and  bore  at  the  bow  a  bust  of  Pope 
Gregory  XYI.,  the  work  of  a  carver  named  Beecher.^ 

The  next  year  Bisliop  Fenwick  undertook  to  erect  a 
second  church  in  Boston,  and,  after  overcoming  some 
discontented  feeling,  interested  his  people  thoroughly; 
he  also  enlarged  the  little  chapel  of  St.  Augustine  ; 
dedicated  the  church  at  Waltham  and  St.  Patrick's 
Church  at  Lowell,  the  church  at  Salem,  and  stimulated 
Rev.  Jeremiah  O'Callaghan  to  begin  a  church  at  Bur- 
lington. 

Among  the  conversions  of  the  year  was  the  remark- 
able one  of  Theodore  A.  Gough  of  Bedford,  New 
Hampshire.  A  plain,  intelligent  man,  prudent, 
moral,  and  discreet,  he   had  begun  to  read  Catholic 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  pp.  255^04.  Truth  Teller,  vii.,  p.  38. 
See  U.  S.  Cath.  Intelligencer,  lii. ,  p.  303,  in  reply  to  the  Christian  Reg- 
ister. 

'Jesuit,  iv.,  p.  45. 


468       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

books,  and  the  whole  system  seemed  to  him,  guided  by 
grace,  so  consonant  to  reason  and  scripture,  that  he 
continued  till  he  was  thoroughly  instructed  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  Catholic  Church.  He  imbued  his  wife 
and  children  witli  the  faith  which  he  had  embraced, 
and  came  to  Bishop)  Fen  wick  in  Boston.  He  had 
never  been  in  a  Catholic  church  till  November  15, 
1831,  when  he  was  baptized,  with  his  family.^ 

At  the  close  of  1831  Bishop  Fenwick  estimated  the 
Catholic  population  of  Boston,  on  the  basis  of  bap- 
tisms, at  from  ten  to  thirteen  thousand.  The  Congre- 
gation de  Propaganda  Fide,  which  had  requested  a 
report  on  the  state  of  his  diocese,  expressed  great 
pleasure  on  receiving  it. 

One  of  his  great  desires  had  been  to  place  a  free 
school  in  Boston  under  the  care  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity  from  Emmitsburg.  His  application  had  been 
favorably  entertained,  and  Sister  Ann  Alexis,  whose 
life  work  was  to  be  identified  with  Boston,  Sister  Blan- 
dina,  and  Sister  Loyola  were  selected,  and  reached  the 
city  on  the  2d  of  May,  and  were  installed  in  a  house  on 
Hamilton  Street  which  had  been  hired  and  fitted  up 
for  them.  In  a  few  days  Boston  witnessed  250  chil- 
dren march  in  procession  from  the  Sisters'  house  to 
the  Cathedral.  The  school  thus  opened  soon  increased 
in  the  number  of  pupils. 

In  July  the  Bishop  visited  his  flock  in  Maine,  of- 
ficiating at  Newcastle,  in  the  new  church  of  the 
Indians  at  Old  Town,  and  in  the  old  church  at  White- 
field,  which  he  urged  the  congregation  to  replace  by  a 
becoming  brick  structure.  Soon  after  his  return  from 
a  visitation  to  Hartford  the  Asiatic  cholera  appeared 

'Bishop  Fenwick,  "Memoranda";  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xi.,  pp.  6, 
14,  31;  X.,  pp.  38,  102,  119,  etc. 


BURLINGTON.  469 

in  Boston,  on  the  15th  of  August,  and  its  ravages 
taxed  all  the  energies  of  the  clergy.  Bishop  Fenwick 
continued  his  visitations,  acting  the  part  of  a  mis- 
sionary in  many  places  ;  he  conhrmed  at  Salem,  dedi- 
cated the  fine  church  at  Burlington,  due  in  a  great 
degree  to  the  influence  and  taste  of  Col.  Hyde,  Cath- 
olics coming  from  thirty  and  forty  miles  around  to 
witness  the  opening  of  St.  Mary's  Church  on  the  feast 
of  her  Holy  Name.  Here  a  great  Canadian  priest, 
Very  Rev.  P.  M.  Migneault  of  Chambly,  aided,  as  on 
many  other  occasions,  addressing  his  countrymen  in 
French.  Bishop  Fenwick  soon  after  dedicated  the 
church  which  the  Catholics  of  Taunton,  though  few 
and  poor,  had  erected. 

The  free  school  under  the  Sisters  had  increased  so 
that  it  became  necessary  to  provide  for  them  on  Sun- 
days, and  to  his  great  consolation  the  Bishop,  on  the 
14th  of  October,  dedicated  a  chapel  for  their  use  in  the 
Cathedral  basement,  to  St.Aloysius,  patron  of  scholars.^ 

Two  projects  occupied  his  mind  before  the  close  of 
1832  ;  one  was  the  establishment  of  a  Catholic  Orphan 
Asylum,  absolutely  required  to  shelter  the  many  left 
fatherless  by  the  cholera  ;  the  other  was  the  erection 
of  a  monument  in  honor  of  Father  Sebastian  Rale, 
S.  J.,  who  was  put  to  death  near  his  chapel  at  the 
Indian  town  of  Norridgewock,  Maine,  August  28, 
1724.  To  carry  out  his  pious  wish.  Bishop  Fenwick 
purchased  the  site  of  the  chapel  and  mission  cross 
beside  which  the  undaunted  missionary  fell.^    In  the 

•  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  vi.,  p.  255.  Catholic  Intelli- 
gencer, iii.,  pp.  197,  246,  308-349,  412.     Telegraph,  Cincinnati,  i.,  p.  239. 

2  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoranda."  Catholic  Intelligencer,  iii.,  pp.  44, 
197,  246,  287,  308,  342,  412  ;  Cincinnati  Telegraph,  i.,  pp.  239,  407  ;  ii.,  p. 
135,  359,  374  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  319  ;  xi.,  pp.  14,  31  ;  xii.,  p. 
142. 


470       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

course  of  the  next  year  Bishop  Fenwick  heard  that 
tlie  missionary's  strong-box  was  preserved  in  the 
Waldron  family,  and  finally  succeeded  in  being  able 
to  see  and  examine  it  at  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  He 
describes  it  as  "a  box  of  ordinary  size,  covered  on 
every  side  with  copper,  curiously  wrought.  There 
was  his  ink-stand,  sand-box,  the  place  for  his  pens 
and  paper,  and  sundry  other  little  apartments.  But 
what  was  remarkable  in  it,  was  a  secret  drawer  in 
which  he  kept  his  papers  of  a  confidential  nature,  and 
which  no  one  could  open  who  was  not  let  into  the 
secret." 

Bishop  Fenwick  had  a  monument  prepared  with  a 
suitable  inscription,  and  on  the  22d  of  August,  1833, 
proceeded  to  the  site  of  the  ancient  Abenaki  village. 
The  plot  acquired  covered  the  site  of  the  missionary's 
chapel,  sacristy,  and  house,  and  the  monument  Avas 
to  be  erected  on  the  anniversary  of  his  death.  The 
Rev.  C.  D.  Ffrench  came  from  Portland,  and  Rev.  Mr, 
Conway  from  the  Penobscot  with  a  delegation  from 
the  tribe.  These  soon  reared  a  temporary  altar, 
shielded  by  a  bower  of  branches,  and  a  leafy  sacristy 
near.  The  Rev,  Father  Ffrench  then  proceeded  to 
offer  the  holy  sacrifice  for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of 
the  faithful  who  fell  beside  their  devoted  pastor,  A 
number  of  Catholics  gathered  to  join  in  the  pious 
ceremony,  but  hosts  came,  to  the  number  of  more 
than  four  thousand,  led  by  curiosity.  They  gathered 
around  the  celebrant  so  that  it  Avas  almost  impossible 
to  continue  the  mass.  At  the  gospel  Bishop  Fenwick, 
from  a  temporary  platform,  addressed  those  present 
for  about  an  hour,  taking  as  his  text :  "  The  memory 
of  him  shall  not  depart  away  and  his  name  shall  be  in 
request  from  generation  to  generation,"  Ecclus,  xxxix, 
13.     He  was  heard  with  great  attention,  and  at  the 


FATHER  RALE'S  MONUMENT. 


471 


close  of  his  address  he  directed  the  Avorkmen  to  pro- 
ceed to  raise  the  shaft  of  the  monument ;  the  base,  two 
massive  blocks  of  granite,  being  already  in  position. 
This  was  slowly  effected,  and  the  monument  stood 
forth  over  the  very  spot  where  the  missionary  was 
buried,  and  which  his  altar  had  occupied.  A  cross  of 
wrought  iron  surmounted  the  obelisk,  which,  stand- 


VIEW  OP  FATHER  KALE'S  MONUMENT,  ERECTED  BY  BISHOP  FENWICK. 

ing  near  the  winding  river,  was  visible  at  a  great  dis- 
tance. This  monument  did  not  remain  long  a  con- 
spicuous feature  in  the  landscape  ;  it  was  thrown 
down  about  two  years  afterwards,  but,  though  replaced 
in  position  by  some  citizens  of  Norridgewock,  again 
became  the  sport  of  long  enduring  hostility.^ 

^  Jesuit,  iv.,  p.  143  ;  letter  of  Rev.  George  Fenwick,  S.J.,  Catholic 


472       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

While  in  Maine  Bishop  Fenwick  dedicated  the 
church  in  Portland,  a  creditable  building,  with  a  good 
organ,  erected  by  the  little  flock  of  250  Catholics.  He 
also  selected  a  site  for  a  church  at  Bangor  and  visited 
Indian  Old  Town.  He  had  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  it  would  be  difficult  to  preserve  the  faith  of  this 
Indian  portion  of  his  diocese,  unless  he  could  interest 
some  religious  community  to  undertake  the  charge. 
He  had  accordingly  applied  to  the  Picpus  Fathers, 
and  early  in  September  was  able  to  announce  to  the 
Penobscots  and  Passamaquoddies  that  Fathers  Petit- 
liomme  and  Demillier  had  arrived. 

During  the  year  the  Bishop  made  visitations  in  the 
southern  part  of  his  diocese,  encouraged  by  the  prog- 
ress everywhere  visible ;  while,  from  Vermont,  he 
heard  of  increasing  congregations  at  Swanton,  Fair- 
field, and  St.  Albans.  In  the  autumn  he  was  called 
away  to  attend  the  second  Provincial  Council  of 
Baltimore. 

One  of  BishoiD  Fenwick' s  plans  was  to  secure  a  large 
tract  of  land,  and  open  it  to  Catholics,  in  hopes  of 
drawing  many  from  the  temptations  of  cities,  and 
enabling  them  to  secure  comparative  independence  as 
farmers.  Maine  seemed  to  him  to  offer  the  greatest 
advantages,  and  he  was  on  the  alert  to  secure  a  town- 
ship for  the  purpose.  He  advertised  in  1833  for  per- 
sons willing  to  take  up  lands,  at  not  more  than  a 
dollar  and  a  half  an  acre.  He  finally  secured  Town- 
ship No.  2,  Fifth  Range,  sixty-nine  miles  from  Bangor, 
and  made  the  attempt  at  Catholic  colonization  in 
July,  1834. 

In   that   year  Bishop  Fenwick  purchased  lots    on 

Telegraph,  ii.,  p.  74.  Allen,  "The  History  of  Norridgewock,"  Nor- 
ridgewock,  1849,  p.  47.  It  was  overthrown,  Aug.  6,  1836.  Pilot,  Aug. 
20,  Sept  10,  1836.     Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  vi.,  p.  273. 


URSULINE  CONVENT.  473 

Pond  Street,  Boston,  and  began  the  erection  of  another 
church  which  was  actively  prosecuted.  In  May  he 
dedicated  the  beautifully  located  Gothic  structure, 
Christ's  Church,  New  Haven,  reared  there  through  the 
zeal  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  McDermott,  but  the  ceremony  of 
joy  was  turned  into  one  of  sadness  by  the  sudden 
giving  way  of  a  gallery,  causing  the  death  of  two, 
both  converts,  and  wounding  others.  Calvin  White, 
once  a  minister,  had  embraced  the  faith  and  resided 
on  a  little  farm,  helping  to  spread  the  faith  by  his 
instructions  and  by  his  edifying  life.^  Progress  was 
evident  on  all  sides.  The  new  church  at  White- 
field,  Maine,  was  nearly  completed ;  another  was 
begun  at  Newport ;  while  the  Catholics  at  Bangor, 
Point  Pleasant,  Worcester,  and  Newport  were  prepar- 
ing to  erect  houses  of  worship. 

While  the  church  and  the  true  faith  were  steadily 
gaining  ground  in  New  England,  giving  just  offense 
to  none,  interfering  with  no  rights  of  others,  an  inci- 
dent occurred,  which,  though  trifling  in  itself,  led  to 
one  of  the  greatest  calamities  in  our  history,  the 
destruction  of  the  Ursuline  Convent.  One  of  the 
ladies  of  tliis  institution,  Sister  Mary  John  (Harrison), 
holding  a  high  position  in  the  community  as  a  teacher 
of  music,  had  been  overworked,  esj)ecially  in  preparing 
pupils  for  the  exhibition  day  of  the  academy.  She 
was  finally  prostrated,  and  in  her  delirium  left  her  bed 
and  ran  from  the  convent  to  the  house  of  a  neighbor, 
Mr.  Runey,  on  the  28th  of  July,  and  asked  to  be  taken 
to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Cutter,  whose  daughters  had 
been  her  pupils.  Word  was  sent  to  Bishop  Fenwick, 
who  drove  to  Mr.  Cutter's  house  and  endeavored  to 

*  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  158.  Weekly  Register,  ii.,  p.  79.  As  to  White,  see  Fin- 
otti,  Bibliotheca  Cath..  p.  261;  Tuttle,  Hist,  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
Madison,  N.  J.,  1855  ;  Historical  Collections  of  N.  Jersey,  1844,  p.  380. 


474       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

persuade  her  to  return  to  the  convent.  Failing  to  see 
her,  he  called  on  her  brother,  Mr.  Thomas  Harrison, 
who  lived  in  Boston,  and  they  found  her  evidently 
deranged,  but  succeeded  in  persuading  her  to  return 
to  the  institution.  A  physician  was  summoned,  and 
under  his  treatment  reason  soon  returned,  and  her 
health  began  to  recover.  She  was  deeply  afflicted  on 
learning  all  that  she  had  done.  Rumors  were  indus- 
triously spread  by  malicious  persons  and  even  circu- 
lated by  the  press,  especially  the  "  Mercantile  Jour- 
nal," that  Miss  Harrison  was  detained  in  the  convent 
against  her  will  and  even  subjected  to  harsh  treatment. 
On  the  night  of  the  9th  of  August  a  number  of  evil-dis- 
posed men  of  the  dregs  of  society  assembled  around 
the  convent  between  nine  and  ten  o'clock,  led  by  two 
of  the  Cutter  family.  After  shouting:  "Down  with 
the  Convent !  Down  with  the  nuns  !  "  they  inquired 
for  the  Superior  and  demanded  to  see  Miss  Harrison, 
in  order  to  learn  from  her  own  lips  whether  she  was 
detained  against  her  consent  in  the  house.  The 
Superior  and  Sister  Mary  John  ajDpeared,  and  the 
latter  assured  them  that  she  was  not  detained  but 
could  go  when  she  liked.  The  Messrs.  Cutter  then, 
perfectly  satisfied,  endeavored  to  undeceive  the  mob  ; 
Mr.  Edward  Cutter  made  a  statement  to  that  effect, 
and  even  the  selectmen  of  Charlestow^n  made  a  similar 
statement,  both  being  printed  in  the  public  papers, 
but  they  were  given  and  printed  too  late  to  do  any 
good.^ 

In  view  of  the  menaces  of  a  mob,  and  of  the  j)lacards 
and  means  employed  to  excite  the  most  depraved  part 
of  the  community,  it  may  seem  strange  that  the  Bishop 
and  Catholics  generally  made  no  call  on  the  authorities 

'  They  are  given  in  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  262. 


THE  CONVENT  ATTACKED.  475 

to  protect  the  nuns  and  their  property  from  insult  and 
violence.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that  though, 
up  to  that  time,  Catholics  had  frequently  seen  and 
heard  themselves  and  their  religion  assailed  with  the 
coarsest  virulence,  no  actual  violence  had  been  offered 
them,  and  they  believed  defenseless  ladies  as  safe  in 
their  home  under  the  protection  of  the  laws  of  the 
great  State  of  Massachusetts,  as  though  they  had  been 
surrounded  by  the  serried  ranks  of  the  bravest  soldiery. 
They  placed  implicit  reliance  on  the  honor,  the  good 
faith,  and  the  power  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massa- 
chusetts, to  protect  all  within  her  limits.  Even  when 
Bishop  Fen  wick  received  intelligence- that  the  convent 
was  to  be  attacked  he  could  not  credit  it,  but  treated 
it  as  an  idle  rumor.  Boston  gentlemen  who  had 
daughters  in  the  convent  seemed  lulled  into  similar 
confidence,  and  left  their  loved  children  at  the  mercy 
of  a  vile  mob. 

But  bigotry  was  rousing  the  deej^est  fanaticism 
regardless  of  the  lives  of  the  religious  ladies  or  of  the 
fifty-five  young  ladies  under  their  care,  chiefly  of  the 
best  families  of  the  State.  Inflammatory  sermons 
were  preached  in  the  neighboring  towns  and  in  some 
churches  in  Boston,  especially  in  the  Baptist  church 
in  Hanover  Street.  Lyman  Beecher  on  the  preceding 
Sunday  preached  no  fewer  than  three  sermons  denounc- 
ing the  Catholic  church.  Meetings  were  held  in  the 
schoolhouse  at  Charlestown  to  organize  the  work  of 
destruction. 

But  when  all  had  retired  to  rest  the  mob  came, 
unchecked  by  any  authority.  As  it  crossed  Charles- 
town  bridge  its  roar  of  rage  and  hate  reached  the  con- 
vent. Nearer  and  nearer  came  the  tramp  of  men  till 
another  shout  rose  on  their  very  grounds.  Not  an 
officer,  not  a  man  was  there  to  protect  defenseless 


476       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

women  and  children,  who,  roused  from  their  beds, 
dressed  in  haste.  Musket  shots,  a  pupil  used  after- 
wards to  tell,  rang  out,  followed  by  cries  to  the  Supe- 
rior to  bring  out  her  jDrisoners.  Then  the  door  was 
broken  in,  and  the  mob  entered,  bearing  with  them, 
against  their  will  as  they  declared,  two  of  the  selectmen 
of  Charlestown,  Runey  and  Hooper.^  The  Superior 
had  roused  and  sent  oif  her  community  and  pupils. 
She  was  endeavoring  to  reach  her  room  and  desk  when 
the  ruffians  burst  in.  She  retreated  up  the  stairs  and 
at  the  head  of  the  staircase  faced  the  mob.  Musket 
balls  whistled  by  her,  the  same  pupil  avers.  She  was 
drawn  back  by  her  sisters,  and  the  rioters  held  all  the 
lower  part  of  the  house.  The  fences  and  outhouses 
were  soon  used  to  light  up  vast  bonfires  with  the  aid 
of  tar  barrels  and  combustibles  brought  in  cars.  These 
by  their  blaze  drew  the  firemen  of  Charlestown  to  the 
scene,  only  to  retire  and  leave  the  convent  at  the  mercy 
of  the  mob.  Casks  of  liquor  were  then  brought  and 
opened,  and  the  frenzied  mob  proceeded  to  their  work 
of  plunder  and  incendiarism.  The  Superior,  Mother 
St.  George,  at  last  seeing  no  hope  of  succor,  gathered 
her  sisters  and  pupils  and  left  the  building,  halting  at 
the  tomb  of  the  dead.  There  the  Superior  saw  the 
flames  darting  from  every  portion  of  the  convent  after 
the  work  of  destruction  within  had  been  completed. 
Then,  with  those  confided  to  her,  she  sought  refuge  in 
neighboring  houses. 

Meanwhile  the  mob  had  ransacked  every  room  in 
the  building,  rifling  every  drawer,  desk,  and  trunk, 
breaking  up  and  destroying  the  furniture  and  musical 

'  Runey's  account  in  Bunker  Hill  Aurora,  and  Mother  St.  George's 
reply;  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  367.  These  men  saw  and  spoke  to  several  of  the 
mob,  were  able  to  identify  them,  but  neither  was  called  as  a  witness  at 
any  of  the  trials. 


ITS  DESTRUCTION. 


All 


instruments.  Tlien  they  prepared  for  the  conflagra- 
tion, jjlacing  in  the  centre  of  several  rooms  broken 
furniture,  books,  and  other  combustible  materials. 
On  the  pile  first  kindled  the  Bible  was  cast  with  shouts 
of  exultation.  All  the  chapel  furniture  was,  with 
similar  derision,  committed  to  the  flames.  When  the 
convent  was  a  sheet  of  fire,  the  lodge  where  Bishop 


BUINS  OP  THE  UKSULINE   CONTENT,    CHARLESTOWN. 

(From  a  print  of  the  time.) 

Fenwick  was  accustomed  to  stay  was  similarly  de- 
stroyed, with  its  library,  after  a  mock  auction  had  been 
held  on  it.     The  farm-house  shared  the  same  fate. 

When  all  that  was  destructible  had  yielded  to  their 
violence,  the  mob  drew  up  to  behold  the  flames  com- 
plete the  work,  and  as  the  fire  died  away  they  with- 
drew exultant,  unchecked,  unhampered,  unpursued. 

A  number  of  fire  engines  stood  idle,  the  firemen 


478       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

looking  on,  and,  though  the  canal  ran  within  a  few- 
hundred  yards,  not  throwing  a  single  drop  on  the 
flaming  buildings,  "I  was  completely  thunder- 
struck," says  one,  who  was  attracted  to  the  spot  by 
the  noise  and  glare,  "to  see  a  building  of  brick  as 
large  as  Franklin  building  in  front,  with  two  wings  in 
rear,  half  the  size  of  the  front,  an  elegant  chapel  or 
school,  another  large  building,  covered  completely  with 
a  running  vine,  large  outbuildings,  and  about  forty 
cords  of  wood  all  on  fire  at  once,  and  a  dancing  and 
infuriated  assembly  of  men  throwing  the  furniture 
into  the  flames.  I  confess  it  reminded  me  of  the  worst 
days  of  revolutionary  France.  After  I  arrived  they 
fired  several  small  buildings,  which,  I  presume,  were 
wash-house,  storehouse,  wood-house,  etc."^ 

To  the  Catholic  heart  the  greatest  grief  was  the 
profanation  attending  the  awful  scene.  So  complete 
was  the  confidence  that  the  Blessed  Sacrament  had 
been  left  in  the  chapel.  The  ciborium  with  the  Body^ 
of  our  Lord  was  taken  out  of  the  tabernacle  and  after- 
wards found,  with  a  few  of  the  hosts.  It  was  asserted 
at  the  time  that  Creasy,  one  of  the  ruffians,  after  boast- 
ing that  he  had  consecrated  wafers  in  his  possession,, 
cut  his  throat  in  a  low  den  in  Boston. 

The  mob  did  not  spare  even  the  graves  of  the  dead.. 
The  coffins  were  torn  open  and  the  bodies  exposed. 

The  work  of  destruction  was  accomplished  by  sixty 
or  seventy  ruffians,  whom  a  dozen  resolute  men  could 
have  routed  ;  but  the  magistrates  and  engineers  of  tlie^ 
fire  companies  made  no  effort  to  check  the  rioters. 
Mount  St.  Benedict  was  undoubtedly  the  finest  aca- 
demy for  young  ladies  in  the   State,  and  with  its. 


'  Benjamin  Hawkes,  Jr.,  to  Mr.  B.  Hawkes,  Jr.,  Aug.  12,  1834,  noon; 
Aug.  14  :  I  owe  these  letters  to  Rev.  Thomas  A.  Reid,  S.J. 


THE  BOSTON  COMMITTEE.  47& 

furniture,  library,  musical  instruments,  and  the  cloth- 
ing of  the  inmates  represented  a  value  of  at  least  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  a  large  amount  for  those  days. 

Boston  was  startled  in  the  morning  by  the  report  of 
the  destruction  of  the  Charlestown  convent.  Bishop 
Fenvvick,  overwhelmed  with  grief  and  shame  that  such 
a  crime  could  have  been  jDerpetrated  in  an  American 
State,  sent  carriages  to  collect  the  religious  and  their 
pupils,  scattered  in  the  houses  of  Charlestown.  Even 
then  the  rioters  and  their  abettors  held  full  sway,  un- 
checked by  the  legal  authorities.  The  carriages  and 
stages  were  hooted  by  the  ruffians  carrying  spoils 
from  the  convent,  and  tauntingly  offering  the  inmates 
jewelry  and  trinkets  which  they  had  stolen.  The 
pupils  were  conveyed  promptly  to  their  homes  ;  the 
Ursuline  nuns,  Mother  St.  Henry  dying  of  consump- 
tion, were  taken  to  the  house  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity 
in  Hamilton  Street,  Boston.  There  they  entered  in 
absolute  destitution,  having  saved  nothing  but  the 
clothes  they  wore.^ 

In  the  first  impulse  of  honest  indignation  and  shame 
a  meeting  was  called  at  Faneuil  Hall,  at  which  Theo- 
dore Lyman,  Esq.,  Mayor  of  Boston,  i)resided.  Col. 
Quincy  and  Hon.  Harrison  Gray  Otis  addressed  the 
citizens,  and  resolutions  were  adopted  in  which  the 
attack  on  the  convent  was  declared  to  be  a  base  and 


'  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoranda  ";  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  viii., 
p.  182;  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen-Stiftung,  xi.,  p.  44.  "Report  of  the 
Committee  Relating  to  the  Destruction  of  the  Ursuline  Convent,"  Bos- 
ton. 1834  ;  "  The  Charlestown  Convent :  Its  Destruction  by  a  Mob,"  etc. ,. 
Boston,  1870,  p.  23;  "The  Burning  of  the  Convent,"  Boston,  1877, 
pp.  102-181.  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  262,  etc.  Account  from  Mrs.  Hale's  Maga- 
zine, lb.,  p.  294;  Letter  of  Miss  Alden,  p.  317.  "Documents  relat- 
ing to  the  Imposture  of  Rebecca  T.  Reed  and  the  burning  of  the  Ursu-^ 
line  Convent  at  Charlestown,  Mass.,"  in  Bishop  England's  works,  v.^ 
pp.  232-347. 


480       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

cowardly  act,  and  all  testified  their  abhorrence  of  "  this 
high-handed  violation  of  the  laws."  The  mayor  was 
requested  to  api^oint  a  committee  to  investigate  the 
whole  affair,  and  to  consider  the  expediency  of  pro- 
viding funds  to  repair  the  damage  done  the  convent. 
A  meeting  held  at  Cambridge,  on  the  13th,  expressed 
similar  feelings.^ 

As  the  news  spread  Irish  Catholic  laborers  employed 
on  railroads  came  pouring  into  Boston,  bent  on  aveng- 
ing the  insult,  and  Bishop  Fenwick  sent  his  clergy  to 
dissuade  them  from  any  attempt  at  retaliation.  On 
the  other  hand,  crowds  gathered  menacing  the  cathe- 
dral and  other  Catholic  property  in  Boston,  and  the 
house  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  This  continued 
for  several  days,  though  the  Bishop  addressed  the 
Catholics  in  the  cathedral  for  half  an  hour,  exhorting 
them  to  leave  all  defensive  action  to  the  city  authorities. 

In  view  of  the  dangerous  position  of  affairs,  the 
infantry  of  the  Third  Brigade,  Col.  Prescott,  were 
called  out  and  kept  under  arms,  supplied  with  ball- 
cartridges,  and  respectable  citizens  prepared  to  support 
the  authorities.  The  mayor  issued  a  notice  requesting 
parents  and  others  to  keep  boys  and  young  men  out  of 
the  streets  at  night.  The  excitement  continued  during 
the  week,-  but  on  Sunday  Bishop  Fenwick  preached 
twice,  showing  his  flock  that  all  ideas  of  retaliating 
the  wrong  done  them  were  totally  at  variance  with 
their  duty  as  Catholic  Christians. 

At  the  time  of  the  destruction  of  the  convent  the 
community  consisted  of  Rev.  Mother  Mary  Anne  Ur- 
sula St.  George  Moffatt,  Superior,  with  five  choir  and 

'  The  resolutions  were  transmitted  to  Bishop  Fenwick  by  the  venerable 
Judge  Joseph  Story. 

-Division  order,  John  S.  Tyler,  Maj.-Gen.,  Aug.  12,  1834;  O.  H. 
Sumner  to  Mayor,  Aug.  15  ;  Notices  of  Mayor,  Aug.  13,  14. 


ITS  REPORT.  481 

two  lay  Sisters  and  two  novices.  One  of  the  choir  nuns, 
Sister  St.  Hemy,  was  sinking  rapidly  from  the  fright 
and  exposure.  The  first  thought  of  the  Bishop  and 
Superior  was  to  find  a  house  suitable  for  their  use, 
and  in  which  the  academy  might  be  reopened.  It  was 
found,  however,  to  be  impossible  to  hire  a  house  in 
or  near  Boston. 

The  committee  appointed  at  Faneuil  Hall  made  a 
report,  showing  the  groundlessness  of  the  charges 
spread  against  the  nuns,  by  Avhich  unscrupulous  men 
fomented  the  evil  passions  to  accomplish  the  work  of 
destruction.  This  report  was  drawn  up  by  Charles 
G.  Loring  and  signed  by  him  as  chairman.  The  names 
and  weight  of  the  committee  did  something  to  disabuse 
a  few  of  those  who  had  been  misled,  but  many  would 
not  yield  to  its  testimony.^  Meanwhile  Governor 
Davis  had  issued  a  proclamation  offering  a  reward 
for  the  detection  of  the  offenders  ;  a  number  were 
arrested  and  committed,  and  preparations  were  made 
to  bi'ing  them  to  trial,  some  on  the  capital  charge  of 
arson. 

It  was  October  before  the  Ursulines  could  obtain  a 
house,  but  they  finally  secured  the  Brinley  place  at 
Roxbury,  put  at  their  disposal  by  Gen.  Dearborn,  the 
owner,  and  removing  to  it  prepared  to  reopen  their 
academy.  Here  Sister  St.  Henry,  the  choir  novice, 
who  had  been  rapidly  sinking,  expired  on  the  18th  of 
October,  in  her  20th  year.  Her  death,  though  perhaps 
not  directly  intended  by  the  mob  or  its  instigators,  was 
so  clearly  a  result  of  their  unchristian  work  that  the 
sympathy  was  general.  The  funeral  was  attended  by 
many  Protestants,  the  numbers  swelling  to  thousands. 

'  Report  of  the  committee,  relating  to  the  destruction  of  the  Ursuline 
Convent.  Boston,  1834;  under  "Documents  relating  to  the  Ursuline 
Convent,  Charlestown,"  Boston,  1842. 


482      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Waylen,  an  Episcopal  minister,  witnessed  the  funeral 
and  describes  it  toucliingly  in  his  Ecclesiastical 
Reminiscences  of  the  United  States.^ 

The  trial  of  John  R.  Buzzell,  Prescott  P,  Pond, 
William  Mason,  Marvin  Marcy,  Sargeant  Blaisdell, 
Isaac  Parker,  and  Alvah  Kelly  began  in  the  Supreme 
Judicial  Court  of  East  Cambridge  on  the  2d  of  Decem- 
ber. It  soon  became  apparent  that  the  State  took  no 
means  to  secure  a  conviction.  The  proof  of  arson  was 
entirely  wanting.  No  witnesses  were  called  to  identify 
any  one  of  the  persons  with  a  conflagration  witnessed 
by  at  least  a  thousand.  The  evidence  against  Buzzell 
was  clear  and  distinct,  but  counsel  for  the  defense 
appealed  to  the  prejudices  of  the  jury  by  cross-examin- 
ing Catholic  witnesses  as  to  their  religion.  The  argu- 
ment of  the  Attorney-General,  James  T.  Austin,  pre- 
sented the  evidence  strongly,  but  Judge  Shaw  charged 
that  arson  could  not  be  sustained,  as  the  inmates  left 
the  building  before  the  fire ;  but  submitted  it  to  the 
jury  whether  Buzzell  committed  burglary  armed  with 
a  dangerous  weapon.  The  jury  returned  a  verdict  of 
"  Not  Guilty,"  and  the  farce  of  a  trial  ended.  It  was 
laid  down  as  Massachusetts  law  that  it  was  not  arson 
to  set  lire  to  a  house  after  driving  the  occupants  out, 
and  that  a  man  could  not  be  convicted  of  burglary 
unless  the  State  proved  him  to  have  had  a  dangerous, 
weapon.^ 

A  mob  received  Buzzell  with  cheers  and  carried  him 
in  triumph  through  the  city.     The  trial  of  Mason, 

1  New  York.  1846,  pp.  19-22.  Jesuit,  v.,  p.,  345;  R.  P.  Fay  to 
Mayor  Lyman,  Oct.  4,  1834,  inclosing  Mother  St.  George's  letter, 
Oct.  3. 

*  "Trial  of  the  persons  charged  with  burning  the  convent  in  the  town: 
of  Charlestown,  Mass."  Boston,  1834,  pp.  1-34;  "  Argument  of  James 
T.  Austin,  Atty.  Genl.,  in  the  case  of  John  R.  Buzzell,"  Boston,  1834. 


THE  TRIALS.  483 

Marcy,  and  Blaisdell,  ended  in  the  acquittal  of  all 
but  Marcy,  wlio  was  again  put  upon  trial  with  Pond, 
Parker,  and  Kelley.  He  was  convicted  and  Parker 
acquitted.  As  to  the  others  the  jury  disagreed,  and  on 
a  new  trial  they  were  acquitted.  Marcy  was  sentenced 
to  imprisonment  for  life,  but  soon  after  pardoned.^ 

The  destruction  of  the  convent  and  the  men  who 
■effected  it  were  seen  by  hundreds  ;  the  leaders  in  the 
plot  held  almost  public  meetings.  Newspapers  fav- 
ored them  ;  inflammatory  placards  were  posted  up  in 
and  around  Boston, — but  no  witnesses  could  be  found 
to  identify  any  one  but  the  poor-house  boy  Marcy. 

The  attempt  of  the  Ursulines  to  restore  their  convent 
academy  in  Roxbury  proved  unsuccessful.  They  were 
constantly  beset  by  gangs  of  men  shouting  and  creat- 
ing a  disturbance  around  the  building,  employing  the 
vilest  and  most  threatening  language.  Six  of  the 
community  soon  proceeded  td"  convents  in  Canada  to 
await  better  times.^  The  acquittal  of  the  rioters  em- 
boldened the  mob ;  the  churches  in  Boston  and  the 
convent  in  Roxbury  were  both  threatened.  The 
Bishop  authorized  the  Catholics  to  prepare  to  defend 
them,  as  there  seemed  to  be  no  disposition  to  protect, 
and   the   Navy    Department    instructed    Commodore 


1  "The  Charlestown  Convent,  its  Destruction  by  a  Mob."  Boston, 
1870,  pp.  59-79. 

2  "  The  nuns  traveled  in  a  close  carriage  drawn  by  three  horses,  under 
the  conduct  of  a  skillful  and  trusty  coachman,  passing  through  New 
Hampshire  to  Burlington,  Vermont,  where  they  embarked  upon  Lake 

Champlain  for  St.  John's At  a  public  house  in  New  Hampshire, 

the  good  religious  were  considered  a  phenomenon  at  least;  for  when 
they  entered,  the  people  who  were  there  before  them  not  only  rose,  but 
jumped  up  from  the  tables  and  beat  a  precipitate  retreat.  The  Sisters, 
though  sorry  on  account  of  the  consternation  which  they  created,  never- 
theless indulged  in  a  smile.  Rev.  B.  F.  De  Costa,  "  In  Memoriam,  Sis- 
ter Sainte  Claire,  Order  of  St.  Ursula,"  Charlestown,  1876,  p.  17. 


484       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Elliott  not  to  interfere  in  case  of  a  riot,  but  to  leave 
matters  solely  to  the  civil  authorities.  Well  might 
Bishop  Fenwick  write  :  "•  We  live  in  awful  times. 
All  this  movement  on  the  j)'ii't  of  the  lower  classes  of 
people  is  occasioned  by  their  jealousy  of  the  Catholic 
religion.  Their  object  is  evidently  to  put  down  if 
they  can."  ^ 

Rebecca  Reed,  who  had  done  much  to  create  preju- 
dice against  the  convent,  and  whose  relative,  Pond, 
was  generally  regarded  as  the  leader  in  the  plot  for  its 
destruction,  early  in  the  next  year  issued  a  book 
entitled,  "  Six  Months  in  a  Convent."  It  caught  the 
popular  taste  and  sold  widely,  although  Mother  St. 
George  published  an  answer  exposing  its  malice  and 
untruthfulness.^ 

Mother  St.  George,  who  belonged  to  the  diocese  of 
Quebec,  was  recalled  in  April  by  her  bishop.  The 
community  then  dissolved,  the  household  furniture 
was  sold,  and  nearly  all  the  Sisters  set  out  for  Canada 
in  May.  A  few  joined  communities  elsewhere.  Under 
existing  circumstances.  Bishop  Fenwick  saw  no  pros- 
pect of  the  successful  revival  of  the  famous  academy. 

Application  was  almost  immediately  made  to  the 
General  Court  or  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  for  in- 
demnity for  the  destruction  of  the  convent ;  but  no 
action  was  taken,  although  a  committee  reported  in 
favor  of  granting  them  a  sum  of  money.     It  was  again 

'  Bishop  Fenwick,  "  Memoranda." 

"Reed,  "Six  Months  in  a  Convent,"  Boston,  1835;  "An  Answer  to 
Six  Months  in  a  Convent,  exposing  its  falsehoods  and  manifold  Absurd- 
ities," Boston,  1835  ;  "A  Review  of  the  Lady  Superior's  Reply,"  Bos- 
ton, 1835  ;  "  Supplement  to  '  Six  Months  in  a  Convent,'  "  Boston,  1835. 
The  wretclied  girl  whose  evil  tongue  did  so  much  to  create  prejudice 
against  the  Ursulines  died  in  Boston,  Feb.  28,  1838.  Her  book  was 
reprinted  in  England,  as  the  London  Athenaeum  remarked,  "  for  the 
benefit  of  the  curious  and  the  edification  of  the  gullible." 


MOUNT  ST.  JAMES.  485 

brought  up  in  1842  with  a  similar  result,  a  favorable 
report  and  justice  withheld.^  Yet  Judge  Thacher,  in 
his  charge  to  the  grand  jury  of  Sussex  County  (Dec. 
1834)  had  said :  "In  the  destruction  of  the  Ursuline 
Convent  on  Mount  Benedict,  it  was  seen  that  a  i)or- 
tion  of  the  people  could  wage  war  equally  against 
political  liberty,  the  sacred  rights  of  property  and 
religious  charity.  The  just  and  enlightened  every- 
where will  look  to  the  justice  of  the  country  and  to  its 
liberality  to  the  sufferers  to  efface  the  foul  disgrace." 

Meanwhile  the  Indian  missions  in  Maine  prospered 
under  the  care  of  the  devoted  and  laborious  Father 
Edmund  Demilier,  whose  zeal  held  him  to  the  unat- 
tractive mission  till  his  death. ^ 

During  the  following  year  Rev.  James  Fitton  pur- 
chased property  near  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  on 
which  he  proposed  to  found  a  literary  institution. 
He  soon  had  ten  pupils  under  a  competent  teacher, 
and  Bishop  Fenwick,  visiting  the  spot  where  the  new 
academy  was  rising  on  the  declivity  of  an  extensive 
hill,  watered  by  streams  of  pure  water,  entertained 
the  hope  that  sooner  or  later  something  would  grow 
out  of  it  useful  to  the  Church,  It  was  indeed  the 
nucleus  of  the  future  College  of  the  Holy  Cross. 

In  his  visitations  Bishop  Fenwick  found  much 
to  cheer  him.  A  church  building  was  purchased  at 
Augusta,  Maine  ;  in  May,  at  Lowell  a  creditable  church 
was  completed  ;  the  church  at  Taunton  was  already 

'  R.  S.  Fay,  "An  Argument  before  the  Committee  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  upon  the  petition  of  Benedict  Fenwick  and  others,"  Bos- 
ton, 1835  ;  Report  of  the  Select  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the 
petition  of  George  Bradburn,"  House,  Dec.  30,  1842  ;  G.  T.  Curtis, 
"  The  Rights  of  Conscience  and  Property,  or  the  true  Issue  of  the  Con- 
vent Question,"  Boston,  1842  ;  B.  F.  Butler,  Report  of  Committee 
(House  No.  75).  March  19,  1853. 

*  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  viii.,  p.  191  ;  x.,  p.  147. 


486       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

too  small  to  accommodate  the  faithful ;  churches  were 
in  progress  at  Fall  River  and  Newport;  others  were 
begun  at  Bangor  and  Providence ;  and  the  congrega- 
tion at  Hartford  was  increasing,  and  stations  were 
attended  from  it  at  Springfield,  Portland,  New  Brit- 
ain, and  Tariffville.  In  December  he  dedicated  St. 
Patrick's  Church  at  the  South  End,  a  neat  brick  edifice, 
large  enough  to  accommodate  eight  hundred  people, 
iind  affording  the  faithful  in  that  part  of  Boston  and 
Roxbury  all  the  consolations  of  religion. 

The  population  of  the  diocese  at  the  end  of  1836  had 
so  increased  that  the  Easter  communions  numbered 
8153,  baptisms  1792,  and  the  faithful  in  New  England 
had  35  priests  and  30  churches. 

We  have  already  noted  the  conversion  of  Dr.  Greene 
■of  Saco.  At  first  little  prejudice  seemed  evoked  by 
his  conscientious  change  of  faith,  but  when,  some 
years  later,  he  sought  a  j)rofessorship  in  the  Medical 
Department  of  Bowdoin,  a  man  of  far  less  ability 
was  appointed,  Dr.  Greene's  religion  outweighing  the 
recommendations  of  able  men  and  the  abundant  evi- 
dence of  his  fitness.  He  removed  to  Boston  in  May, 
1836,  and  soon  acquired  the  influence  his  talents  and 
virtues  merited. 

By  this  time  the  German  Catholic  element  in  his 
diocese  required  Bishop  Fenwick's  care,  the  largest 
body  of  them  being  in  and  near  Roxbury.  Having  no 
priest  in  his  diocese  who  could  speak  German  fluently, 
Bishop  Fenwick  applied  to  his  fellow  bishop  in  New 
York  and  at  the  close  of  May,  1835.  the  Very  Rev. 
John  Raffenier,  apostle  of  his  countrymen  in  the 
East,  arrived.  On  the  last  day  of  May  that  zealous 
priest  gathered  three  hundred  in  the  chapel  of  St. 
Aloysius,  and  addressed  them  with  so  much  power 
and  unction  that  he  spent  the  whole  evening  in  the 


PUBLIC  INSULTS.  487 

confessional.  Quickened  by  his  zeal  they  resolved  to 
collect  means  to  support  a  priest,  and  in  August,  1836, 
they  obtained  Rev.  Mr.  Hoffmann  as  their  pastor. 
Boston  could  acquit  convent  burners  and  robbers, 
but  it  hung  i^irates.  Several  Si3aniards  were  under 
sentence  of  death,  and  the  devoted  Very  Rev.  Felix 
Varela  came  on  from  New  York  to  afford  them  the 
last  consolations  of  religion. 

Meanwhile  the  new  church  on  Pond  Street  was 
nearly  completed,  amid  difficulties  and  threats. 
Bishop  Fenwick,  who  saw  the  lawless  prevented  from 
celebrating  the  destruction  of  Mount  Benedict  by  an 
orgy  on  the  grounds,  learned  that  an  effigy  of  himself 
had  been  carried  out  of  the  most  cultured  city  in 
America  to  be  shot  at  as  a  target.  Unaffected  by  such 
insults  he  visited  his  churches  in  Maine,  and  pushed 
on  the  erection  of  his  seminary  ;  he  saw  Pope  Day 
revived  in  September  by  the  Washington  Artillery, 
who  carried  a  figure  of  the  Pope  through  the  streets 
and  finally  set  it  up  as  a  target. 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  he  was  gratified  to  see 
the  Pond  Street  Church  so  far  completed  that  he  was 
able  to  have  mass  said  in  it.^  This  church  was  dedi- 
cated under  the  invocation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
May  22,  1836.  Besides  this,  churches  had  been 
erected  at  Fall  River,  Newport,  and  Benedicta,  so 
that  even  in  the  face  of  persecution  the  faith  was 
advancing.  With  the  close  of  the  year  he  had  twen- 
ty-five priests,  four  students  in  theology,  and  seven 
in  lower  classes. 

In  1837,  Bishop  Fenwick  attended  the  Provincial 
Council  at  Baltimore,  and  extended  his  visitations  to 
Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  Western  Massachusetts, 


'  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  viii.,  pp.  184^5. 


488       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  Vermont.  He  dedicated  in  August  a  line  new 
churcli  in  a  favorable  situation  at  Providence,  and  was 
rejoiced  to  see  the  fruit  of  the  zeal  of  the  faithful  at 
Fall  River,  where  the  sacred  edifice  reflected  credit  on 
priest  and  people.  After  the  summer  heats  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Maine,  but  was  so  badly  injured  on  the 
steamboat  that  his  whole  journey  was  one  of  pain. 
His  Catholic  colony  gave  flattering  promise.  At  Old 
Town  he  offered  the  holy  sacrifice  for  Rev,  James 
Rene  Romagne  who  died  at  Sace,  France,  Nov,  19, 
1836.  Driven  from  France  by  the  Revolution  he  long 
ministered  to  the  Indians  in  Maine,  and  at  his  death 
made  a  bequest  to  the  Bishop  of  Boston,  mindful  of 
his  Indian  flock.  ^ 

The  German  congregation  in  Boston,  which  had 
assembled  in  the  Cathedral  chapel,  gave  the  Bishop  no 
little  anxiety,  as  led  by  designing  men  they  would  not 
co-operate  with  the  priests  who  were  sent  to  minister 
to  them.  Rev.  Messrs.  Hoffmann  and  Freygang 
were  both  forced  to  retire,  and  a  BenMictine  named 
Smolnikar  became  their  choice.  In  a  short  time,  how- 
ever. Bishop  Fenwick  discovered  in  this  priest  unmis- 
takable signs  of  insanity,  and  unable  to  obtain  another 
clergyman,  became  himself  the  chaplain  of  the  Ger- 
man congregation. 

In  April,  1838,  Bishop  Fenwick' s  diocese  was  des- 
tined to  feel  further  effects  of  hostility  against  the 
Church,  St.  Mary's  Church,  Burlington,  Vermont, 
became  the  object  of  destruction,  A  small  number  of 
men,  low  shopkeepers,  and  even,  it  is  said,  some  col- 
lege students,  at  midnight  set  fire  to  the  sacred  edifice 
which  was  soon  reduced  to  ashes.^    Rev.  Mr.  O'Calla- 

'  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  x.,  p.  149. 

» Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  p.  180.     Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  p.  158. 


THE  URSULINES  RETURN.  489 

ghan^  not  disheartened  by  this  unexpected  blow,  at 
once  set  to  work  to  rebuild  the  church.  He  had  to 
contend  at  the  same  time  with  the  proselytizing  efforts 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Bishop,  who  opened  a 
school  for  children  of  Irish  and  French  Catholics, 
making  attendance  at  his  Sunday-school  and  church 
obligatory.' 

In  July,  1838,  Bishop  Fenwick  prepared  to  revive  the 
Ursuline  Convent,  all  excitement  having  died  away. 
He  secured  a  house  on  Quincy  Place,  and  on  the  29th 
of  August  Sister  Mary  Benedicta  and  Sister  Mary 
Ursula  arrived  from  Canada,  and  steps  were  at  once 
taken  to  open  a  select  day  school.  Other  Sisters  soon 
arrived  and  in  October  the  Bishop  appointed  Mother 
Mary  Benedicta  Superior.  The  community  as  reorgan- 
ized consisted  of  live  choir  nuns,  and  two  lay  Sisters, 
one,  Sister  Mary  Clair,  being  the  devoted  Infirmarian. 
The  academy  did  not  prove  successful,  and  after  strug- 
gling on  for  nearly  two  years  the  nuns  lost  heart :  and 
in  April,  1840,  two  of  them  returned  to  Canada.  The  rest 
soon  followed  the  example  and  sought  homes  in  other 
communities,  and  the  Ursuline  Convent  in  the  diocese 
of  Boston  ceased  to  exist.  The  pious  project  of  Rev. 
John  Thayer,  to  which  the  devoted  daughters  of  the 
Ryan  family  consecrated  their  lives,  though  fostered 
and  encouraged  by  a  Matignon,  a  Cheverus,  and  a 
Fenwick,  came  to  naught,  though  an  academy  such 
as  the  Ursulines  conduct  was  sorely  needed. 

In  January,  1839,  St.  Mary's  Church  in  Boston  was 
seriously  injured  by  a  conflagration  which  swept  away 
many  houses.  The  restoration  required  time  ;  but  the 
congregation  was  active.  During  the  year  a  church 
was  dedicated  in  honor  of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel, 

'  Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  p.  297. 


'490       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

at  Bangor ;  a  church  was  begun  at  Middlebury,  and 
land  purchased  for  one  at  Cabbotville. 

The  next  year  Bishop  Fenwick  received  into  the 
church  a  Protestant  clergyman,  identified  with  charit- 
able work,  Rev.  George  F.  Haskins,  who  ultimately 
became  a  priest  and  founded  the  House  of  the  Angel 
Guardian  for  homeless  boys. 

In  1841  the  German  Catholics,  who  had  long  been 
without  a  priest,  depending  on  occasional  visits  from 
Rev.  J.  Raffeiner,  stimulated  by  the  Bishop,  purchased 
a  lot  on  Suffolk  Street  and  prepared  to  erect  a  church, 
laying  the  corner-stone  on  the  28th  of  June  ;  he  had 
already  secured  a  zealous  priest.  Rev,  F.  Roloff,  for 
this  congregation. 

During  the  same  year  new  churches  were  opened 
at.  Burlington,  Cabotville,  Lowell,  Providence,  and 
Bridgeport :  another  was  commenced  at  Quincy  ;  lots 
were  secured  at  Middletown  and  Machias,  and  a  site 
obtained  in  Boston  for  an  orphan  asylum. 

The  truth  was  spreading,  and  among  the  converts  of 
this  time  were  Mrs.  Sarah  M.  Jarvis,  the  wife  of  Rev. 
Samuel  Farmer  Jarvis,  a  famous  and  learned  Episco- 
palian, and  their  daughter. 

Great  harmony  had  as  a  rule  prevailed  in  the 
Catholic  congregations  in  New  England,  but  with  the 
commencement  of  the  year  1842  serious  troubles  arose 
in  St.  Mary's  Church,  Boston.  Public  meetings  were 
called  and  a  few  malcontents  labored,  by  the  usual 
wiles,  to  spread  discontent  and  excite  a  spirit  of  resis- 
tance to  the  Bishop.  Some  of  the  meetings  were  so 
turbulent  that  the  public  authorities  were  compelled 
to  interfere.  To  allay  the  feeling  Bishop  Fenwick  at 
last  removed  Rev.  Mr.  O'Beirne,  but  on  Sunday 
Feb.  20,  when  Rev.  Dr.  O' Flaherty  began  vespers  he 
was   interrupted  with  shouts,   shuffling,  and  hisses. 


DIOCESAN  SYNOD.  491 

Bishop  Fenwick  at  once  placed  tlie  church  under  an 
interdict. 

Almost  simultaneously  troubles,  arose  at  Taunton 
and  Salem.  Bishop  Fenwick  met  the  turbulent  with 
firm  and  decisive  measures. 

On  the  24th  of  July,  1842,  he  dedicated  St.  James's 
Church,  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  a  handsome  brick 
building  of  Gothic  architecture. 

On  the  12th  of  August  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  met 
for  an  ecclesiastical  retreat,  and  at  its  close  Bishop 
Fenwick  held  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Cross  the 
first  Diocesan  Synod  of  Boston.  It  was  attended  by 
thirty  priests,  two  being  absent.  In  itself  the  synod 
was  a  token  of  the  progress  of  the  faith  in  New  Eng- 
land. The  decrees  of  the  Baltimore  councils  were 
enforced,  and  the  ritual  recently  issued  was  made 
obligatory.  In  regard  to  the  erection  of  new  churches, 
it  was  prescribed  that  none  was  to  be  undertaken  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  Bishop  and  without  a  deed  for 
the  property  being  made  to  him.  Any  encouragement 
of  trustees  by  a  priest  was  made  a  matter  of  suspen- 
sion. Residence  in  the  parish  was  enjoined,  and 
absence  forbidden  by  which  the  faithful  might  suffer. 
The  administration  of  baptism  was  regulated ;  and 
rules  formed  as  to  confessions,  and  the  administration 
of  holy  viaticum.  Midnight  mass  on  Christmas, 
owing  to  the  dangers,  was  prohibited.  Collecting  of 
money  at  the  church  door  was  forbidden,  and  rules 
established  as  to  the  dress  and  life  of  priests,^ 

After  proclaiming  the  Jubilee,  which  was  followed 
by  exercises  in  the  different  churches  to  the  great 
benefit  of  religion,  Bishop  Fenwick  dedicated  the 
church  at  Qnincy  on  the  18th  of  September,  with  John 

'  Sy nodus  Dicecesana  Bostoniensis  I.,  habita  anno  1843. 


492       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Quincy  Adams  in  the  audience;  and  on  the  16th  of  the 
next  month  the  church  at  Lowell.^  Rev.  Mr.  Fitton 
had  offered  the  diocese  his  academy  near  AVoi'cester, 
on  certain  conditions.  The  Bishop  visited  the  j)lace, 
and  was  convinced  that  it  afforded  the  nucleus  of  a 
future  college.  Satisfactory  terms  were  soon  arranged, 
and  early  in  the  year  1843  he  prepared  to  erect  build- 
ings for  the  future  College  of  the  Holy  Cross.  He  also 
purchased  a  large  building  at  the  north  end  of  Boston 
in  order  to  transform  it  into  a  church,  which  was  much 
needed. 


MOUNT   ST.    JAMES  AND   HOLY   CROSS   COLLEGE. 

Another  subject  that  engaged  the  Bishop's  atten- 
tion was  the  anti-Catholic  character  of  Worcester's 
History  and  other  school-books  which  had  been  intro- 
duced into  the  public  schools  of  Boston,  contrary  to 
law.  He  addressed  the  mayor  and  the  school  com- 
mittee at  considerable  length  ;  but  it  is  not  creditable 
to  the  State  that  nearly  fifty  years  after  Catholics  are 
again  compelled  to  complain  of  this  great  and  per- 
sistent wrong. 

He  arranged  with  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  Maryland  to 
assume  the  direction  of  his  college,  and  obtained  Rev. 

'  Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  pp.  37,  235,  279. 


HOLY  CROSS  COLLEGE.  493 

Thomas  F.  Mulledy  as  president.  The  corner-stone 
was  laid  June  21.^  The  buildings  were  well  advanced 
in  November  and  the  college  opened,  Georgetown 
aiding  its  library  and  other  departments  by  generous 
gifts.  The  pupils,  at  first,  occupied  the  old  academy. 
With  Father  Mulledy  as  president,  Father  George 
Fenwick  as  prefect  of  studies  and  professor  of  rhet- 
oric, assisted  by  a  corps  of  teachers,  the  first  Catholic 
college  of  New  England  opened  under  happy  auspices 
with  seventeen  pupils.  During  the  year  he  dedicated 
St.  John's  Church,  East  Cambridge,  and  St.  Matthew's, 
at  Cabotville. 

Bishop  Fenwick  began  to  feel  the  weight  of  his  long 
labors  in  the  priesthood  and  episcopate.  He  saw  the 
need  of  a  Coadjutor,  and  of  a  division  of  his  diocese. 
At  the  Provincial  Council  in  Baltimore  he  laid  these 
matters  before  the  bishops,  and  a  petition  was  for- 
warded to  the  Holy  See  requesting  the  erection  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  into  a  diocese,  with  the 
see  at  Hartford,  and  recommending  Rev.  William 
Tyler  as  Bishop,  and  asking  the  appointment  of  Rev. 
John  B.  Fitzpatrick  as  Coadjutor  of  Boston.  When 
the  bulls  arrived  the  bishops  elect  proceeded  to  Mary- 
land to  make  a  retreat,  and  Bishop  Tyler  was  conse- 
crated in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Holy  Cross  by  Bishop 
Fenwick  with  Bishops  Whelan  and  Byrne  as  assist- 
ants ;  and  Dr.  Fitzpatrick  in  the  Chapel  of  the 
Visitation,  Georgetown,  the  assistant  prelates  being 
Bishops  Whelan  and  Tyler. 

Early  in  the  year  1844  Bishop  Fenwick  purchased  a 
Protestant  church  in  East  Boston,  which  he  dedicated 
on  the  25th  of  February  in  honor  of  St.  Nicholas.  He 
soon  after  installed  Bishop  Tyler  in  his  see  of  Hartford. 

1  Catholic  Herald,  xi.,  p.  217. 


494       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  diocese  of  Boston,  thus  reduced,  contained  35 
churches,  seven  of  them  yet  without  resident  priests. 
Boston  had  eight  churches,  the  baptisms  being  about 
1600  a  year. 

Within  the  last  ten  years  much  had  been  accom- 
plished. In  the  face  of  opposition  from  without  grow- 
ing more  intensely  bitter,  till  it  became  the  platform 
of  a  political  party,  new  churches  and  institutions  were 
rising,  intelligent  and  learned  persons  were  drawn  to 
the  church  by  their  own  honest  convictions.  Twenty- 
five  churches  had  been  erected,  six  in  what  had  become 
the  new  diocese  of  Hartford,  most  of  them  large  and 
capacious.  Nine  others  were  in  progress.  In  the 
same  decade  Bishop  Fenwick  had  ordained  nineteen 
priests.  The  diocese  possessed  an  incipient  college  and 
orphan  asylum  and  was  already  organizing  parochial 
schools.^ 

'  Bishop  Fenwick  to  the  Propaganda,  Jan.  10,  1845. 


SEAL  OF  BISHOP  FENWICK. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  YORK. 
RT.  REV.  JOHN  DU  BOIS,  THIRD  BISHOP,  1829-1842. 

Bishop  Du  Bois,  in  his  rex)ort  to  the  Congregation 
de  Propaganda  Fide,  when  he  reached  the  Eternal 
City,  after  38  days  travel  from  New  York,  estimated 
^he  Catholic  population  of  the  New  York  diocese  at 
150,000,  scattered  among  three  millions  of  Protestants. 
To  attend  this  flock  he  had  but  eighteen  priests  :  eight 
of  these  had  been  received  within  two  years,  but  not- 
withstanding all  his  examination,  he  found  himself 
often  deceived  as  to  the  real  usefulness  of  applicants 
from  other  parts.  The  faithful,  as  a  rule,  poor,  were 
struggling  hard  to  build  churches  or  free  those  erected 
from  debt.  Yet  the  diocese  could  not  prosper,  or  have 
such  a  body  of  priests  as  it  required,  till  a  theological 
seminary  was  established.  As  the  diocese  could  not 
supply  means  for  the  erection  of  such  an  institution, 
he  besought  the  Propaganda  to  advance  him  for  a 
certain  number  of  years  an  annual  sum  on  which  he 
could  rely.  He  found  the  labor  in  the  city  so  great 
that  he  maintained  two  priests,  to  instruct  the  chil- 
dren in  the  church  schools,  and  jirepare  them  to 
receive  the  sacraments,  as  well  as  to  visit  the  City 
Hospital  and  Almshouse,  where  many  Catholics  had 
died  without  the  consolations  of  religion. 

Church  extension  and  any  increase  of  the  clergy  was 
hampered  by  the  general  reluctance  of  Catholics  pos- 
sessed of  means  to  contribute  to  any  church,  or  to  the 
support  of  any  priest,  unless  some  of  them  as  trustees 

495 


496       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

had  entire  control.  A  project  for  establishing  a 
French  church  fell  through,  for  though  money  could 
be  raised  the  subscribers  insisted  on  its  being  a  joint 
stock  concern,  so  that  they  could  sell  their  shares. 
Priests  were  thus  at  the  mercy  of  a  few  men,  generally 
more  prominent  than  devoted.  The  Bishop's  only 
resource  for  his  support  and  that  of  priests  whom  he 
found  it  necessary  to  maintain  with  him  was  $1200, 
out  of  which  he  had  to  pay  house  rent  and  all  his 
traveling  expenses  during  visitations.^ 

During  his  absence  Very  Rev.  John  Power  sought 
with  his  limited  resources  to  advance  the  cause  of 
religion.  The  Rev.  Mr.  O'  Reilly  visited  the  scattered 
Catholics  in  Otsego,  Chenango,  and  Schoharie  counties  ; 
St.  Mary's  Church  in  New  York  was  enlarged,  and  on 
the  13th  of  December  a  new  church  was  dedicated  at 
Macopin,  now  Echo  Lake,  among  the  descendants  of 
the  pioneer  Catholics,  whom  a  Farmer,  a  Schneider, 
and  a  Groessel  had  attended  on  the  last  century.  It 
was  blessed  by  Rev.  Charles  D.  Ffrench,  O.  P.,  at  the 
request  of  Rev.  Francis  O'Donoghue,  pastor  of  St. 
John's  Church,  Paterson,  in  whose  district  it  stood. ^ 

The  society  formed  to  relieve  widows  and  \vidowers 
of  the  care  of  their  helpless  children  had  prospered  so, 
Mrs.  Dupleix  and  Mrs.  Pyne  being  especially  active, 
that  a  house  was  secured  on  Prince  Street,  and  the 
needed  work  of  mercy  began.  This  institution,  known 
as  the  Catholic  Half-Orphan  Asylum,  was  maintained 
for  a  number  of  years,  but  finally  merged  in  the  general 
asylum.^ 


'  Bishop  Dii  Bois  to  Propaganda,  1829.  Commentary  presented  to 
Propaganda. 

«  Truth  Teller,  v.,  pp.  340,  390,  404 ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p. 
109 ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  157  ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  iii.,  p.  4. 

3  Truth  Teller,  vi.,  p.  223. 


NEW  CHURCHES.  497 

While  Catholics  were  thus  struggling  amid  difficul- 
ties to  obtain  needed  church  accommodation,  educate 
their  young,  and  minister  to  the  unfortunate,  signs  of 
a  growing  hostility  to  themselves  and  their  church 
became  but  too  evident.  One  of  the  first  indications 
occurred  at  Lansingburgh,  Avhere  the  monument  in  the 
Catholic  cemetery,  erected  by  Keating  Rawson,  Esq., 
a  convert,  to  the  memory  of  his  pious  wife,  was  wan- 
tonly broken  in  pieces.^ 

Meanwhile,  the  faithful  went  on.  On  the  8th  of 
July,  the  Catholics  at  New  Brunswick  saw  the  corner- 
stone of  their  church  laid  by  Y.  Rev.  Felix  Varela, 
to  be  dedicated  in  December  by  Rev.  Joseph  A. 
Schneller,  and  at  the  other  end  of  the  diocese  the 
laborious  and  zealous  priest,  Nicholas  Mertz,  laid  on 
the  13th  of  the  same  month  the  corner-stone  of  a 
church  to  be  dedicated  to  the  Lamb  of  God,  on  a  lot 
charitably  given  by  Mr.  Le  Couteulx.^ 

In  September  the  new  church  on  Pine  and  Chapel 
streets,  Albany,  which  had  been  completed  by  the 
Bishop's  aid  at  a  cost  of  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  was 
dedicated  by  the  V.  Rev.  John  Power.^ 

Salina  had  a  church  in  1829,  erected  mainly  by  the 
exertions  and  liberality  of  two  gentlemen,  James 
Lynch  and  Thomas  McCarthy.     About  this  time  it 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscelliiny,  x.,  p.  43  ;  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  379. 

^  Truth  Teller,  vi.,  pp.  233,  270,  390  ;  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  419  ;  Berger,  "  Life 
of  Rt.  Rev.  John  N.  Neumann,  D.D.,  C.S.S.R.,"  New  York,  1884,  p.  160. 
Rev.  N.  Mertz  (born  April  26, 1764,  at  Bendorf) ;  ordained  March  23, 1791; 
labored  from  1805  in  the  missions  from  Maryland  to  Western  New  York. 
He  never  changed  his  dress,  retaining  the  style  worn  in  Europe  in  his 
early  days. 

*  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  pp.  109,  130.  A  secular  paper  at  the 
time  declared  that,  though  ten  years  before  there  were  scarcely  a  hundred 
Catholics  in  Albany,  they  were  at  this  time  estimated  at  2000.  Jesuit,  i., 
p.  143. 


498       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

received  a  resident  priest,  Rev.  Francis  O'Donogliuey 
whose  zeal  was  soon  displayed  in  many  remote  stations. 

Bishop  Dii  Bois  had  been  anxious  obtain  Ladies  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  to  establish  an  academy  of  high 
character  ;  but  failing,  he  applied  to  the  Mother  House 
at  Emmitsburg,  where  his  appeal  was  not  disregarded. 
The  Sisters  selected  to  found  this  first  female  academy 
in  the  city  arrived  in  July,  and  preparations  were 
made  to  open  the  classes  at  261  Mulberry  Street  in 
September.  The  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Power  made  an 
earnest  appeal  to  Catholic  parents  to  encourage  and 
support  this  institution,  but  it  will  scarcely  be  believed 
that  there  was  latent  opposition  from  those  who  wished 
to  hold  absolute  control  of  everything  Catholic.  But 
the  Sisters  of  Charity  had  a  firm  hold  on  the  hearts  of 
the  faithful.  If  the  Catholics  had  gained  in  numbers 
in  the  city,  it  was  admitted  that  the  Sisters  had  con- 
tributed largely  to  the  increase.  In  a  few  months 
they  opened  the  female  parochial  school  at  St.  Peter' s 
Church.  They  soon  extended  their  good  work  to 
Albany,  too.^ 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1831  the  diocese  sus- 
tained a  loss  in  the  destruction  of  St.  Mary's  Church, 
Sheriff  Street.  Under  any  circumstances  the  loss  to  a 
body  so  ill  provided  as  the  Catholics  would  have  been 
a  blow.  But  in  this  case  it  resulted  from  the  hatred 
of  the  Church,  at  this  time  industriously  fomented. 

1  Truth  Teller,  vi.,  p.  223  ;  vii.,  p.  86  ;  viii.,  p.  205  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Mis- 
cellany, X.,  p.  302.  The  author's  first  school  days  were  passed  in  the 
first  Academy  of  the  Sisters.  Bishop  Du  Bois  at  this  time,  speaking 
of  the  Sisters,  said:  "The  disinterested  zeal  of  these  religious,  their 
more  than  motherly  kindness  for  the  children  confided  to  their  care,  the 
neatness,  I  might  almost  say  the  elegant  simplicity,  they  maintain  in 
their  schools  and  asylum,  have  contributed,  in  no  small  degree,  to 
diminish  the  prejudice  of  Protestants."  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi, 
iv.,  p.  461. 


ST.  MARY'S  BURNED.  499 

The  church  was  first  robbed,  then  the  bell  secured  to 
prevent  its  being  rung.  After  that  fire  was  kindled  in 
three  places,  and  when  the  alarm  was  given  the  Church 
■of  Our  Lady  was  enveloped  in  flames,  and  was  soon 
but  a  mass  of  smoldering  brands  and  ashes.  With 
the  edifice  perished  the  only  church  bell  then  possessed 
by  the  Catholics  in  New  York.  A  school  under  the 
church,  conducted  by  Thomas  Harran,  which  trained 
many  Catholic  boys,  one  of  whom  at  least  obtained 
the  honors  of  the  episcopate,  was  also  closed  by  this 
•cruel  act.  Rev.  Luke  Berry  collected  his  flock  for  a 
few  Sundays  in  temporary  halls,  but  he  never  recovered 
from  the  blow  and  died  within  a  month. ^ 
'  When  Bishop  Du  Bois  returned  from  Europe  on  the 
^Oth  of  November,  1831,  he  thus  found  his  episcopal 
city  poorer  in  churches  than  when  he  left  it.  His  visit 
to  Rome  had  not  been  unprofitable.  The  Holy  Father 
encouraged  him  in  his  difficulties  ;  gave  him  hearty 
.apx)robation  and  aid  for  the  seminary  and  college 
which  he  proposed  to  found.  He  had  also  exposed 
his  wants  and  his  plans  to  the  Association  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Faith,  and  was  encouraged  by 
them.^  He  had  obtained  some  donations  in  money 
and  books  to  form  a  nucleus  of  a  library,  but  he  was 
unable  to  bring  back  with  him  a  corps  of  zealous 
priests,  or  any  colony  of  a  religious  order  to  exercise 
the  ministry. 

One  of  the  first  objects  of  the  Bishop's  care  on  his 
Teturn  was  the  restoration  of  the  ruined  shrine  of  Our 


'  History  of  St.  Mary's  Church,  New  York.  1826  to  1876.  New 
Tork,  1876,  p.  19.  Truth  Teller,  vii.,  p.  399  ;  Catholic  Intelligencer,  iii., 
p.  94;  Catholic  Telegraph,  ii.,  p.  376;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xi., 
pp.  166,  397. 

'  Truth  Teller,  vii.,  p.  880.  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  iv.,  pp. 
447-465. 


500       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Lady.  A  new  and  more  advantageons  site  was 
selected  on  the  corner  of  Grand  and  Ridge  streets. 
Tliis  was  acquired,  and  the  congregation  began  the 
work  of  rebuilding,  relying  on  Providence.  Bishop 
Du  Bois,  to  assure  them  of  a  site  for  parochial  resi- 
dence, purchased  an  adjoining  lot.  The  corner-stone 
of  the  new  church  was  laid  by  the  Bishop  on  the  30th 
of  April,  1832,  and  it  was  solemnly  dedicated  on  the 
9th  of  June,  1833. 

In  February,  1832,  the  Catholic  farmers  near  Greece 
had  the  consolation  of  seeing  the  church  which  they 
had  zealously  erected  on  an  eminence  overlooking  the 
Genesee,  near  its  mouth,  dedicated  under  the  name  of 
St.  Ambrose  by  the  Rev.  Francis  O'Donoghue,  pastor 
of  Salina. 

By  this  time  opposition  to  the  Church  had  taken  an 
organized  form,  a  "Protestant  Association"  held  its 
meetings,  and  its  organ  "The  Protestant"  gathered 
all  old  calumnies  and  framed  new  ones  against  Catho- 
lic truth.  Very  Rev.  Dr.  Power  and  Rev.  Dr.  Varela 
allowed  themselves  to  be  drawn  into  oral  discussions 
and  finally  into  a  regular  controversy  with  Dr.  Brown- 
lee  and  other  leaders  in  the  movement.  Rt.  Rev.  Dr. 
Du  Bois,  feeling  that  no  good  could  result  from  such 
encounters,  which  never  remove  prejudice,  expressed 
his  regret  that  things  had  gone  so  far  that  contro- 
versy was  unavoidable.^ 

Bishop  Du  Bois  set  out  after  Easter  to  make  a  visi- 
tation of  the  interior  of  the  State.  After  examining 
the  condition  of  the  missions  on  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson,  encouraging  the  groups  of  faithful  at  several 
points  where  churches  were  soon  to  rise,  he  ordained 


I  Truth  Teller,  vii.,  p.  380;  viii.,  p.  79, 100;  ix.,  p.  46.    U.S.  Cath.  Mis- 
cellany, xii.,  p.  270. 


THE  CHOLERA.  501 

Rev.  James  Terwooren  in  tlie  church  at  Albany,  and 
administered  the  sacrament  of  confirmation  to  more 
than  two  hundred.  In  no  fewer  than  eighteen  places 
in  the  northern  and  western  parts  of  the  State  Bishop 
Du  Bois  found  Catholics  numerous  enough  to  establish 
churches  and  maintain  resident  priests.  He  stationed 
Rev.  J.  J.  McGarry  at  Rochester,  but  the  trustees  re- 
fused to  receive  him.  While  at  Oswego  the  terrible 
Asiatic  cholera,  broke  out  in  New  York.  AVhen  he 
returned  on  the  12th  of  August  he  found  the  city 
clergy  worn  out  by  their  devoted  labors  in  attending 
the  unfortunate  people  struck  down  by  the  cholera. 
The  regular  masses  on  Sundays  depended  on  the  sick 
calls  made  for  the  priest,  and  did  not  resume  their 
usual  regular  hours  till  September.  During  the  prev- 
alence of  the  disease  the  Catholic  priests  and  sisters 
vindicated  more  ably  than  by  controversy  the  truth 
and  Christian  spirit  of  their  religion,  and  showed 
Avhat  it  taught  them  to  do  for  their  fellow-men.  When 
the  ravages  of  the  cholera  ceased  Bishop  Du  Bois 
caused  the  "  Te  Deum  "  to  be  solemnly  sung  in  each 
of  the  city  churches  to  thank  God  for  delivering  them 
from  the  scourge.  He  also  directed  it  to  be  sung  in 
the  other  churches  of  the  diocese  on  the  Sunday  after 
his  notification  arrived.  "  At  the  same  time,"  he  con- 
cluded, "  let  it  be  remembered,  that  it  is  only  by  a  pure, 
innocent,  sober,  and  virtuous  life,  that  we  can  hereaf- 
ter best  show  our  gratitude  to  God  for  our  preservation. 
and  avert  the  recurrence  of  a  similar  chastisement.^ 


>  Truth  Teller,  viii.,  p.  270  ;  Bishop  Timon,  "Missions  in  Western 
New  York,"  Buffalo,  1862,  pp.  213-14.  Rev.  Michael  McNamara  died  at 
Chili,  Aug.  30,  1832,  aged  39.  He  had  recently  been  violently  attacked 
(as  representing  the  €atholic  Church)  in  the  Rochester  Observer.  Cath. 
Intelligencer,  iii.,  p.  26,  408. 

*  Bishop  Du  Bois's  circular,  Truth  Teller,  viii.,  p.  382. 


502       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

As  his  means  were  insufficient  to  obtain  a  suit- 
able site  for  his  proposed  college  and  seminary  in 
or  near  the  city,'  he  examined  points  easy  of  access, 
and  on  the  13th  of  April,  1832,  purchased  a  farm 
of  160  acres  at  Nyack.  Here  on  the  29th  of  May, 
1833,  he  solemnly  blessed  the  corner-stone,  assisted 
by  Rev.  Mr.  Conroy  and  Rev.  Mr.  McGerry,  for- 
merly president  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  College.  The 
ground  was  well  watered  and  highly  cultivated,  with 
a  productive  orchard,  and  a  quarry  of  very  fine  build- 
ing stone.  The  building  proposed  by  the  Bishop  was 
eighty  feet  square,  to  be  crowned  by  a  dome,  and  to  be 
flanked  by  two  wings.  The  work  was  carried  on 
actively  during  the  year,  and  before  its  close  two 
stories  were  raised.'  Eighteen  thousand  dollars  which 
the  Bishop  had  collected  in  Europe  had  by  this  time 
been  expended,  and  to  complete  the  work  he  appealed 
to  the  religion  and  charity  of  the  faithful  in  a  pas- 
toral letter.'^ 

A  neat  chapel,  forty  feet  by  twenty-five,  was  erected 
adjoining  the  college  in  the  summer  of  1834,  and  dedi- 
cated by  the  Bishop.^  The  seminary  was  already 
opened  with  Rev.  J.  McGerry  as  president,  and  Rev. 
John  McCloskey  as  professor  and  five  students  in 
theology,  who  occupied  the  old  farm  buildings  await- 
ing the  completion  of  the  main  edifice.  But  before 
that  came,  the  whole  building  was  destroyed  by  fire.* 

1  Truth  Teller,  ix.,  p.  179,  395. 

'  Pastoral  Letter  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  Du  Bois,  Catholic  Bishop  of 
New  York,  to  the  Clergy  and  Laity  of  his  Diocese,  New  York,  Doyle, 
1834;  N.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  i.,  p.  321;  Truth  Teller,  x.,  p.  57;  Jesuit, 
Iv.,  p.  194. 

3  Truth  Teller,  i.,  p.  270. 

*  Weekly  Register,  ii. ,  p.  342.  Dr.  Varela  in  his  Cartas  a  Elpidio  speaks 
of  the  fire  as  incendiary,  but  it  was  regarded  by  many  as  accidental. 


ST.  JOSEPH'S  CHURCH.  503 

In  his  pastoral  letter  issued  at  the  close  of  January, 
1836,  Bishop  Du  Bois  appealed  to  the  faithful  of  his 
diocese  to  aid  in  the  important  work,  and  requested 
the  pastors  of  congregations  to  obtain  subscrij)tions 
by  calling  on  each  member  of  their  flocks.  To  insure 
safety  in  the  title  of  the  x^i'operty,  it  was  vested  in 
himself  and  the  Bishops  of  Boston  and  Philadelphia 
as  joint  tenants.^ 

In  view  of  the  wants  of  the  Catholics  in  what  was 
then  known  as  Greenwich  Village,  a  hamlet  on  the 
North  River  at  some  distance  from  the  inhabited  parts 
of  the  city,  Bishop  Du  Bois,  before  his  visit  to  Rome, 
had  determined  to  establish  a  church  there.  At  first 
he  was  able  only  to  hire  a  large  room  on  Grove  Street, 
where  mass  was  said  for  the  faithful.  After  his 
return  a  plot  was  purchased  on  the  corner  of  Sixth 
Avenue  and  Barrow  Street,  and  plans  were  drawn  for 
a  church  102  feet  long  and  66  Avide.  The  corner-stone 
was  laid  in  the  summer  of  1833,  and  the  solid  edifice 
rose  under  the  care  of  Rev.  James  Cummiskey.  It 
was  completed  so  that  its  dedication  by  the  Rt.  Rev, 
Bishop,  assisted  by  Rev.  William  Quarter,  Rev.  John 
McCloskey,  and  Others  of  the  clergy,  and  the  Rev.  John 
Hughes  of  St.  John's,  Philadelphia,  took  place  on  the 
9th  of  March,  1831 ;  two  of  his  successors  in  the  see  of 
New  York,  one  to  wear  the  purple  of  a  Cardinal  and 
a  Bishop  of  Chicago,  being  gathered  around  Bishop 
Du  Bois  in  the  sanctuary. ^ 

The  increasing  number  of  orphans  in  the  asylum  or 
seeking  admittance  induced  Bishop  Du  Bois  to  estab- 
lish, in  1833,  a  regulation  wdiich  has  been  in  force  to 

'  Catholic  Diary,  v.,  p.  198. 

«  N.  Y.  "Weekly  Register,  i.,  pp.  8,  287,  390  ;  Truth  Teller,  x.,  p.  108  ; 
Cath.  Telegraph,  iii.,  p.  4.  The  altar  was  a  fine  marble  one,  procured 
by  the  Bishop  in  Italy. 


504       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

this  day,  that  all  the  collections  in  the  churches  on 
Christmas  Day  shall  be  devoted  to  the  maintenance  of 
the  fatherless.  The  faithful  have  always  responded 
generously  to  the  call.^ 

The  want  of  a  purely  Catholic  journal  led  to  the 
establishment  of  "The  New  York  Weekly  Register 
and  Catholic  Diarj'',"  the  first  number  of  which  ap- 
peared on  the  5th  of  October,  1833.  The  literary 
department  was  under  the  care  of  a  well-known  scholar 
and  teacher,  P.  S.  Casserly. 

Though  Catholicity  was  bitterly  assailed  and  its 
worship  derided,  the  very  efforts  of  its  opponents  led 
many  to  examine  for  themselves.  Such  examination, 
made  without  bias  and  with  prayer  for  light,  could 
have  but  one  result.  In  January,  1834,  Mr.  Gardner 
Jones  gave  "My  Reasons  for  becoming  a  Roman 
Catholic,"  and  the  journal  in  which  tliej^  appeared 
announced  the  reception  into  the  Church  at  Albany 
of  Dr.  Coleman,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  who  had 
been  brought  up  in  the  Society  of  Friends.^ 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1834  Bislioj)  Du  Bois  visited 
the  northern  parts  of  the  State.  He  was  at  Sandy  Hill, 
Ogdensburgh,^Keeseville;  at  Utica,Avhere  he  confirmed 
one  hundred  and  fifty ;  and  in  September  at  Cold 
Spring,  where  he  dedicated  the  romantic  Church  of 
Our  Lady,^  which  the  earnest  priest.  Rev.  Philip 
O'Reilly,  had  erected,  and  which  Weir,  the  painter, 

'  N.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  i.,  p.  181 ;  Truth  Teller,  ix.,  p.  329;  x.,  p. 
407.  The  call  was  the  more  needed  as  some  of  the  Asylum  buildings 
"were  destroyed  by  a  fire  which  menaced  the  Cathedral,  x.,  p.  85. 

*ISr.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  i.,  p.  261;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiii., 
pp.  262,  270  ;  Smith,  JHistory  of  Diocese  of  Ogdeusburgh,  pp.  80,  194. 

3  Truth  Teller,  x.,  pp.  231,  251,  367  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiv.,  p. 
110 ;  N.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  v.,  p.  6. 


TRUSTEEISM.  605 

• 
portrayed.     The  same  energetic  priest  soon  undertook 

to  erect  a  church  at  Saugerties. ' 

The  trustee  power  had  always  been  strong  in  New- 
York,  and  aimed  to  control  all  the  institutions  of  the 
diocese.  A  slight  circumstance  in  1834  brought  on  a 
conflict  which  lasted  as  long  as  Dr.  Du  Bois  was  alone 
in  control  of  the  see  of  New  York.  For  some  years 
the  relations  between  the  Bishop  and  Rev.  Thomas  C. 
Levins  of  the  Cathedral  had  been  strained.  The  clergy- 
man, who  had  been  in  the  diocese  from  March,  1825, 
was  a  remarkable  man,  a  well-read  theologian,  an  able 
controversialist,  thoroughly  versed  in  all  branches  of 
mathematics  and  natural  philosophj^  a  mineralogist, 
and  a  lapidary.  He  was  very  x^opular  and  was  looked 
up  to  by  many  as  a  champion  of  the  Catholic  cause. 
Soon  after  the  return  of  the  Bishop  from  his  visita- 
tion in  1834,  in  consequence  of  a  disrespectful  reply  to 
an  order  of  the  Bishop,  which  he  really  obeyed.  Rev. 
Mr.  Levins  was  suspended.  The  case  might  easily 
have  been  settled,  but  unfortunately  the  trustees  of 
the  Cathedral  took  up  the  cause  of  the  priest  and 
so  embittered  the  situation,  that  a  removal  of  the 
suspension  became  impossible  without  a  recognition 
of  their  assumed  powers  which  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Du 
Bois  would  never  make.  A  regular  war  ensued.  The 
trustees  appointed  the  priest  rector  of  the  parochial 
school,  while  they  annoyed  the  Bishop  in  every  possi- 
ble way,  and  even  sent  a  committee  to  threaten  to  take 
away  his  salary.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  he  i"e- 
I)lied,  "Gentlemen:  I  have  seen  the  horrors  of  the 
French  revolution,  and  could  meet  them  again.  I  am 
an  old  man.     I  can  live  in  a  cellar  or  a  garret ;  but, 


'  Rev.  Philip   O'Reilly,  died,  pastor   of   St.  Brigid's  Church,  New 
York,  Dec.  7,  1854. 


506       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

gentlemen,  whether  I  come  up  from  my  cellar  or  down 
from  my  garret,  you  must  remember,  that  I  am  still 
your  Bishop."^ 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Levins  took  up  his  residence  near  the 
Cathedral,  and  was  employed  as  engineer  on  the  C'ro- 
ton  aqueduct.  The  plans  of  the  High  Bridge  are  said 
to  have  been  mainly  his  work  ;  he  also  edited  a  x)aper 
called  "  The  Green  Banner."  At  a  later  period  he  was 
restored  by  Bishop  Hughes,  but  found  parochial  duty 
beyond  his  strength  ;  he  resigned  the  church  assigned 
to  him,  and  died  in  New  York. 

The  hard-working  priest,  Rev.  Francis  O'Donoghue, 
had  so  aroused  a  spirit  of  sacriiice  in  the  Catholics  at 
Auburn,  who  had  assembled  in  the  house  of  the  vener- 
able Hugh  Ward,  that  they  erected  in  a  beautiful 
part  of  the  village  a  neat  church,  with  a  cross  crowning 
its  tall  steeple.  The  interior,  lit  by  stained  glass 
windows,  was  full  of  devotion.  This  church  was  dedi- 
cated to  the  most  Holy  Trinity  by  Very  Rev.  John 
Power,  Oct.  23,  1834.  To  the  same  zealous  priest  was 
due  the  fine  brick  church  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales, 
erected  at  Geneva,  and  dedicated  on  the  26th.  A 
charitable  Catholic  gave  his  farm  for  the  maintenance 
of  a  clergyman.^  By  this  time  the  German  Catholics 
in  New  York  city  had  increased  so  that  they  organ- 
ized a  little  congregation  by  themselves.  Their  first 
pastor  was  the  Rev.  John  Raffeiner  of  whom  Arch- 
bishop Hughes  said  :  "Bishops,  priests,  and  people 
have  reason  to  remember  Father  Raffeiner  for  many 
years  to  come.''  He  visited  his  countrymen  far  and 
near,  and  was  always  ready  to  hasten  to  any  point  to 


'  Bishop  Dii  Bois  to  trustees  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  Nov.  17, 
1834  ;  Same  to  Committee,  same  date  ;  same  to  the  meeting  of  Catholics, 
Nov.  30,  1834  ;  Appeal  of  Rev.  Mr.  Levins. 

*  N.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  iii.,  p.  87  ;  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  173. 


ST.  NICHOLAS'  CHURCH. 


507 


give  them  the  consolations  of  religion.  The  German 
Catholics  in  New  York  assembled  for  a  time  under  his 
care  in  an  unused  Baptist  church  at  the  corner  of 
Delancey  and  Pitt  streets,  and  when  the  lease  expired, 
in  St.  Mary's  Church;  baton  the  1st  of  September,  1834, 


VERY  REV.    FELIX  VARELA. 


a  plot  of  ground  on  Second  Street  was  purchased. 
The  corner-stone  of  a  church  to  be  dedicated  to  St. 
Nicholas,  recognized  even  by  the  early  Dutch  colonists 
as  the  patron  of  New  York,  was  laid  by  Y.  Rev.  John 
Power,  April  20, 1835.     By  the  sacrifices  and  exertions 


608       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  Rev.  Mr.  Raffeiner  the  church  was  completed,  and 
dedicated  on  Easter  Sunday,  1836.  Rev.  Mr,  Raffeiner 
directed  the  church  for  several  years  and  became 
Vicar-General  for  the  Germans  in  the  diocese. 

Christ  Church  in  Ann  Street  had  been  so  weakened 
by  the  excavation  for  building  operations  near  it, 
that  many  regarded  it  as  unsafe.  Moreover  the  city 
was  growing  northward  and  a  different  location 
seemed  desirable.  The  congregation  did  not  agree  as 
to  a  site,  that  acquired  on  James  Street  being  unac- 
ceptable to  many  who  preferred  to  remain  further 
down  town.  They  purchased  the  Reformed  Scotch 
Presbyterian  Church  on  Chambers  Street,  fronting  the 
Park,  It  was  dedicated  as  Transfiguration  Church, 
on  the  31st  of  March,  1836,  the  Very  Rev.  Felix  Varela, 
who  had  advanced  the  purchase  money,  remaining 
pastor  of  the  congregation  to  his  death. ^ 

The  other  portion  of  the  congregation  erected  the 
solid  new  Christ  Church,  generally  called  St.  James's 
Church,  which  was  not  completed  without  difficulty, 
but  was  finally  dedicated  by  Bishop  Du  Bois  in  Sep- 
tember, 1836,  and  confided  to  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev. 
Andrew  Byrne,  who  subsequently  became  Bishop  of 
Little  Rock, 

The  upper  part  of  New  York  island  had  a  scattered 
Catholic  population,  few  in  numbers.  The  occasional 
service  in  the  old  Jesuit  college  had  been  their  only 
resource,  but  Bishop  Du  Bois  resolved  to  establish  a 
church  at  Harlem,  Lots  were  bought  on  117tli  Street, 
and  on  the  29th  of  June,  1835,  he  laid  the  corner-stone 
of  a  church,  which  was  ere  long  dedicated  in  honor  of 

'  "  The  Catholic  Churches  of  New  York  City,"  New  York,  1878,  p. 
636,687  ;  Truth  Teller,  x.,  pp.  333-367,  287,  335  ;  Weekly  Register,  v., 
pp.  103,  283.  191,  247  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiv.,  p.  355  ;  Jesuit,  v., 
p.  326.     German  pamphlet  without  title,  New  York,  1840. 


MARIA  MONK.  509 

St.  Paul  and  placed  under  the  pastoral  care  of  Rev. 
Michael  Currant 

Outside  tlie  city  St.  John's  Church,  Paterson,  was 
erected  on  Oliver  Street  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Patrick 
Duffy,  and  dedicated  by  the  Bishop,  April  24,  1836. 
It  replaced  the  former  church,  no  longer  sufficing  for 
the  wants  of  the  faithful ;  and  on  the  24th  of  May  the 
active  missioner,  Rev.  F.  O'Donoghue,  added  another 
to  the  churches  on  his  mission  by  opening  one  at  the 
village  of  Seneca  Palls,  erected  on  ground  generously 
given  by  G.  Y.  Sackett.  The  corner-stone  of  a  new 
cliurch  in  Utica  was  laid  in  June,  and  in  New  York 
city,  to  the  deep  regret  of  many  of  the  old  residents,  it 
was  decided  to  demolish  St.  Peter's  Church,  the 
cradle  of  Catholicity  in  the  city,  and  to  erect  a  finer 
edifice.2  The  year  was  therefore  one  of  great  prog- 
ress in  the  diocese. 

Early  in  1836  a  work  was  published  in  New  York, 
which  though  not  relating  to  the  church  in  this  coun- 
try was  a  vile  attack  on  Catholicity  and  created  great 
prejudice  against  the  faith.  The  pecuniary  success  of 
Miss  Reed's  "Six  Months  in  a  Convent,"  seems  to 
have  stimulated  some  persons  to  undertake  a  work  of 
coarser  and  viler  material,  that  would  command  even 
greater  circulation.  A  wretched  girl  named  Maria 
Monk,  Avho,  after  leading  a  life  of  shame,  had  been 
placed  by  her  mother  in  a  Magdalen  Asylum  at  Mon- 
treal, from  which  she  was  dismissed  or  escaped  by  the 
aid  of  one  of  her  old  lovers,  was  the  tool  employed. 
The  unscrupulous  plotters  made  her  pretend  that  she 


'"Catholic  Churches,"  etc.,  pp.  390-534  ;    Weekly  Register,  vi.,p. 
247  ;  iv.,  p.  315  ;   U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiv.,  p.  279. 

«  "  History  of  the   Catholic   Church,  Paterson,"  pp.  23-23  ;   Weekly 
Register,  v.,  p.  391  ;  vi.,  p.  33,  111,  135. 


510        THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

had  been  not  a  penitent  in  a  Magdalen  Asylum,  but  a 
nun  in  the  Hotel  Dieu,  and  a  narrative  was  drawn  up 
in  her  name  charging  the  devoted  nuns,  one  of  them  a 
daughter  of  General  Ethan  Allen,  with  immorality, 
harshness,  cruelty,  and  murder.  After  stereotyping 
the  infamous  book,  the  conspirators  offered  it  to 
Harper  Brothers,  well-known  publishers  in  New  York. 
That  house,  lured  by  prospective  profits,  undertook  to 
issue  it,  but,  ashamed  of  such  a  vile  worl^,  published 
it  under  the  name  of  Howe  &  Bates,  two  persons  in 
their  employ.  Circulated  at  a  time  when  ministers 
and  newspapers  were  assailing  the  Catholic  Church, 
purporting  to  prove  the  priests  and  religious  women 
of  that  body  to  be  monsters  of  vice,  it  was  greedily 
received  and  read  perhaps  more  widely  than  any  book 
ever  before  published  in  the  country.  It  was  reprinted 
day  by  day  in  the  columns  of  a  cheap  paper  and 
was  accepted  as  true  by  thousands.  Several  New 
York  ministers  and  zealous  members  of  Protestant 
churches  took  up  the  wretched  woman,  and  main- 
tained the  truth  of  her  story.  The  profits  of  the 
fraud  must  have  been  very  great,  but  the  conspira- 
tors could  not  agree.  Maria  Monk  sued  the  Harper 
Brothers  for  her  share  as  author  and  holder  of 
the  copyright  in  the  Vice-Chancellor's  Court,  New 
York,  but  they  denied  her  authorship,  her  ownership 
of  the  plates  and  of  the  copyright.  Vice-Chancellor 
McConn  declared  the  case  one  for  a  jury,  when  "the 
motives  of  those  who  have  promoted  and  prompted 
the  publication  will  be  duly  considered."  ^  William 
K.  Hoyt  also  sued  Rev.  J.  J.  Slocum  and  Maria  Monk  in 
the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  his  share  in  getting 
up  the  book,  and  the  defendants  were  required  to  give 

^  Edwards,  "  Chancery  Reports,"  iii.,  p.  109. 


STONE'S  REFUTATION.  511 

bail  in  SoOOO.^  Those  who  received  the  wretched  woman 
into  their  houses  were  soon  disgusted  with  her  vicious 
manners  and  language  ;  she  sank  lower  and  lower,  and 
died  in  one  of  the  city  institutions.  In  Montreal  her 
wretched  life  was  known  to  many  ;  tlie  Superior  of  the 
reformatory  institution  where  she  had  been  recognized 
her  pretended  descriptions  of  tlie  Hotel  Dieu  as  really 
incorrect  ones  of  the  asjdura.  The  names  she  gave 
were  almost  all  those  of  inmates  of  the  same  institu- 
tion when  she  was  there.  Her  descrij)tion  of  the  Hotel 
Dieu  was  pronounced  utterly  false  by  a  committee  of 
Protestant  clergymen  and  other  gentlemen  who  visited 
it  with  her  book  in  hand.  All  this  was  given  to  the 
public,  but  Rev.  J.  J.  Slocum,  one  of  the  conspirators, 
brought  out  a  second  book  to  defend  the  "Awful 
Disclosures."^  William  L,  Stone,  editor  of  the  Com- 
mercial Advertiser,  a  man  through  life  strongly 
prejudiced  against  the  Catholic  Church,  went  to 
Montreal  with  the  original  book  in  his  hand,  and 
obtained  liberty  to  make  a  thorough  and  complete 
examination  of  the  interior  of  the  Hotel  Dieu. 
After  visiting  every  room  and  closet  from  the  cellar 
to  the  attic,  Mr.  Stone,  as  an  upright  man,  wrote : 
"The  result  is  the  most  thorough  conviction  that 
Maria  Monk  is  an  arrant  impostor — that  she  was 
never  a  nun,  and  was  never  within  the  cloister  of 
the  Hotel  Dieu — and  consequently  that  her  dis- 
closures are  wholly  and  unequivocally,  from  begin- 
ning to  end,  untrue — either  the  vagaries  of  a  distem- 
pered brain,   or  a  series  of   calumnies  unequaled  in 


'  Boston  Pilot,  ii. ,  Dec.  3,  1836. 

^  "Awful  Exposure  of  the  Atrocious  Plot  formed  by  certain  indi- 
viduals against  the  clergy  and  nuns  of  Lower  Canada,  through  the 
inter%-ention  of  Maria  Monk."     New  York,  1836. 


512       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  depravity   of  their  invention,    and  unsurpassed 
in  their  enormity/ 

If  the  Church  in  these  days  had  trials,  it  had  also  con- 
solations. At  Christinas  time,  1836,  Rev.  Walter  J. 
Quarter  of  Utica  received  a  visit  from  Colonel  Dodge,  of 
Pompey,  and  his  wife,  avIio  came  to  ask  admission  to 
the  Catholic  Church,  and  the  benefit  of  its  sacraments. 
They  were  fully  instructed,  and  the  steps  which  led 
them  to  the  truth  were  remarkable.  Early  in  the 
spring,  when  the  roads  were  difficult,  a  peddler's  wagon 
broke  down  near  his  house.  Mr.  Dodge  invited  the 
owner  in  till  repairs  could  be  made,  but  when  he  en- 
tered, Mrs.  Dodge  saw  that  he  was  an  Irishman  and 
probably  a  Catholic.  To  harbor  such  a  person  seemed 
in  her  eyes  a  fearful  risk,  and  she  imparted  her  fears 
to  her  husband.  The  peddler  promptly  avowed  his 
faith,  and  when  Mr.  Dodge  expressed  astonishment 
that  a  man  of  his  good  sense  could  belong  to  such  a 
religion,  the  man  replied  that  if  his  host  knew  it 
better,  his  ideas  would  change.  Before  leaving,  as 
some  return  for  the  kind  hospitality,  he  left  a  book 
which  he  said  would  give  a  better  knowledge  of  the 
Catholic  faith.  The  gentleman  took  it  up  with  some 
curiosity,  but  when  he  found  it  a  statement  of  Catho- 
lic doctrine,  supported  by  scripture,  the  writings  of 

'  Stoae,  "Maria  Monk  and  the  Nunnery  of  the  Hotel  Dieu,  being  an 
Account  of  a  Visit  to  the  Convents  of  Montreal  and  Refutation  of  the 
'  Awful  Disclosures,'"  New  York,  1836.  Maria  Monk's  book  was  care- 
fully analyzed  and  exposed  in  "  A  Review  of  the  Awful  Disclosures  of 
Maria  Monk,  in  which  the  facts  are  fairly  stated  and  candidly  examined." 
By  G.  Vale,  New  York,  1836.  A  large  number  of  estimates  and  docu- 
ments will  be  found  in  Bishop  England's  works,  v.,  pp.  347-418  ;  and  in 
the  journals  of  the  time.  Col.  Stone  by  his  investigation  in  the  cause 
of  truth  drew  upon  himself  a  series  of  violent  personal  attacks  (see 
Quarterly  New  Haven  Christian  Spectator),  and  he  was  held  up  to 
ridicule  in  the  poem,  "A  Vision  of  Rubeta." 


THE  DODGE  FAMILY.  513 

the  most  eminent  men  of  the  primitive  Church,  and 
by  solid  reason,  he  was  utterly  amazed.  The  proofs 
seemed  convincing.  He  obtained  other  books  from  the 
peddler  when  he  again  passed  his  door,  and  ordered 
more  from  New  York.  He  imparted  his  convictions 
to  his  wife,  and  she  too  became  convinced  that  their 
Presbyterian  church  was  not  that  founded  by  the 
apostles.  He  sought  ministers  to  obtain  proof  of 
their  position,  but  their  arguments  were  unsatisfac- 
tory. A  work  by  one  of  them  j)laced  in  his  hands  as 
decisive  proved  to  be  drawn  mainly  from  the  work  on 
the  Apocalypse  by  the  Catholic  Bishop  AValmesley. 
Mr.  Dodge,  hitherto  a  deacon  in  the  church,  ceased  with 
his  wife  to  attend  it,  and  openly  avowed  to  his  neigh- 
bors the  change  in  his  faith,  with  the  solid  grounds 
which  had  induced  him  to  renounce  the  doctrines  in 
which  he  had  been  brought  up.  The  ministers  and 
elders  resolved  to  arraign  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dodge  for  here- 
sy. The  lady  was  first  interrogated,  but  after  a  few 
replies  she  stood  up  before  the  congregation  and  said  : 
"  My  belief,  my  whole  belief  is  in  whatever  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  teaches.  All  whatever  that  Church 
teaches,  I  believe  firmly ;  all  whatever  that  Church 
condemns,  I  disbelieve  and  reject.  Now  this  is  my 
faith  and  I  bid  you  farewell."  They  both  then  retired. 
Avowedly  Catholics  now,  they  continued  to  make 
themselves  more  thoroughly  informed  as  the  doctrines 
and  worship  of  the  Church.  Their  prayers  for  light 
and  perseverance  were  earnest  and  fervent.  Others, 
led  by  their  books  and  explanations,  followed  their 
course  ;  they  met  to  recite  the  mass  prayers  and  other 
devotions  together.  Learning  that  there  was  a  church 
and  priest  at  Utica,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Dodge  drove  there 
to  receive  baptism  and  hear  mass  on  Christmas  day. 
After  enjoying  the  great  consolation  to  which  they 


514       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

head  looked  forward,  they  invited  the  clergyman  to 
visit  them  and  receive  the  others  into  tlie  cliurch  who 
were  as  v^^ell  instructed  and  ardently  desired  holy 
baptism.  Mrs.  Dodge's  sister  and  brother-in-law 
with  their  children  and  some  neighbors  were  thus 
soon  admitted  into  the  fold.^ 

Age  and  trials  had  begun  to  show  their  effect  on 
Bishop  Du  Bois,  and  he  resolved  to  seek  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  coadjutor.  His  first  choice  was  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Francis  P.  Kenrick,  then  coadjutor  of  Philadelphia, 
but  that  distinguished  prelate  wrote  to  the  Cardinal 
Prefect,  setting  forth  his  objections,  and  the  matter 
was  finally  laid  over  to  the  coming  Provincial  Council.^ 
AVhen  Bishop  Du  Bois  was  summoned  to  attend  that 
synod  in  April,  1837,  he  wrote  to  the  Fathers  asking  to 
be  excused  from  attending  its  sessions,  and  his  Vicar- 
General,  y.  Rev.  Felix  Yarela,  proceeded  to  Baltimore 
to  represent  the  diocese.  Bishop  Du  Bois  also  inti- 
mated to  the  assembled  bishops  his  desire  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  coadjutor.  The  regulation  proposed 
in  the  second  Provincial  Council,  under  which  the 
Bishop  desiring  a  coadjutor  was  to  transmit  three 
names  to  the  bishops  in  council,  was  api)arently 
followed,  and  these  names  were  forwarded  to  Rome  in 
compliance  with  the  Decree  of  the  Propaganda,  March 
18,   1834.^    From  the  names   of   clergymen   sent,  the 

'  Rt.  Rev.  John  Hughes,  "  An  Account  of  the  Conversion  of  an  Ameri- 
cfin  Family,  in  Onoqdaga  Co.,  N.  Y,"  Phihidelphia  ;  Annals  of  the 
Propagation  of  the  Faith,  Dublin,  1840,  iii.,  p.  223.  Works  of  Arch- 
bishop Hughes,  ii.,  p.  454. 

^  Bishop  Kenrick  to  Rev.  John  Hughes,  Jan.  19,  1837,  in  Hassard, 
Jjfe  of  Archbishop  Hughes,  pp.  168-9. 

^"Concilium  Baltimorense  Pi-ovinciale  II  habitum  anno  1833,"  Balti- 
more, pp.  17-18.  Besides  the  name  of  Bishop  Kenrick  he  proposed 
Rev.  Thomas  Mulledy,  S.  J.,  and  Rev.  John  Hughes. 


RT.  REV.  JOHN  HUGHES,  COADJUTOR.         515 

Sovereign  Pontiff  selected  as  Coadjutor  the  Rev.  John 
Hughes,  pastor  of  St.  John's  Church,  Phihidelphia, 
who  had  received  liis  ecclesiastical  education  under 
Dr.  Du  Bois  at  Emmitsburg.  Bulls  were  issued  creat- 
ing him  Bishop  of  Basileopolis  in  partibus  infideliuni 
and  Coadjutor  to  the  Bishop  of  New  York.^  It  was 
not  till  November  that  the  official  announcement 
reached  Rev.  Mr.  Hughes. 

In  the  summer  of  1837,  Bishop  Du  Bois  made  another 
visitation  to  central  New  York,  and  on  July  19,  dedi- 
cated the  little  church  at  Rome  which  through  the  in- 
fluence of  Rev.  Walter  Quarter  of  Utica  had  been  put 
up  near  the  village  by  Thomas  Harnetty.  This  gentle- 
man had  reserved  a  small  rental,  but  he  transferred 
this  to  the  Bishop  as  a  contribution  toward  the  sup- 
port of  a  resident  priest. 

In  November,  assisted  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Quarter  and 
Duffy,  he  dedicated  St.  Peter's  Church,  Poughkeepsie.^ 

When  Bishop  Du  Bois  received  from  Rev.  Mr. 
Hughes  the  announcement  of  his  appointment  and  ac- 
ceptance, the  aged  prelate  expressed  the  consolation  it 
afforded  him,  with  the  hope  that  his  coadjutor  would 
find  in  it,  as  he  did,  the  expression  of  the  divine  will.^ 

The  feast  of  the  Epiphany  was  fixed  for  his  con- 
secration, and  on  the  2d  of  January,  1837,  Dr.  Hughes 
proceeded  to  New  York,  where  he  was  no  stranger, 
having  more  than  once  preached  and  taken  part  in 
ecclesiastical  functions.  The  reputation  acquired  by 
his  controversy  with  Rev.  Mr.  Breckinridge  had  more- 


'  Cardinal  Fransoni  to  Archbishop  Eccleston,  Sept.  2,  1837,  in  Fascis- 
culus  quo  recensentur  Acta  ac  Decreta  Syuodorum  Provincialiuni 
Baltimori  habitarum,  etc.,  Rome,  p.  88. 

2  Catholic  Herald,  v.,  p.  275,  394. 

3  Bishop  Du  Bois  to  Bishop-elect  Hughes,  Nov.  6,  1837. 


516       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

over  made  him  widely  known.  The  consecration  of 
Rev.  Dr.  Hughes  took  place  on  the  7th  of  January, 
Bishop  Du  Bois  acting  as  consecrator,  assisted  by  Rt. 
Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick,  Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia, 
and  Rev.  Benedict  J.  Fen  wick,  Bishop  of  Boston  ;  Rev. 
Thomas  Mulledy,  S.J,,  who  had  held  high  offices  in 
liis  order,  preached  on  the  occasion.  The  Cathedral, 
spacious  as  it  was,  could  not  hold  the  throngs  from 
New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  Jersey  City,  with  the 
delegations  from  Philadelphia.^ 

Before  the  close  of  the  month  of  January,  a  stroke 
of  paralysis  menaced  the  life  of  Bishop  Du  Bois,  and 
showed  that  his  active  career  as  head  of  the  diocese 
was  drawing  to  a  close.  He  rallied,  however,  and  was 
able  to  perform  some  episcoj^al  functions  not  of  a 
laborious  character,  but  a  second  and  a  third  attack 
made  it  necessary  to  provide  for  a  possible  condition 
of  entire  disability  on  his  part.  The  aged  Bishop 
showed  great  reluctance  to  resign  the  administration 
of  the  diocese,  or  even,  as  Bishop  Fenwick  advised,  in- 
vest his  coadjutor  with  the  powers  of  a  Vicar-General. 
Bishop  Hughes  laid  the  whole  condition  of  affairs  before 
the  Propaganda,  without  recommending  any  action. 

The  Coadjutor  officiated  at  the  opening  of  the  new 
Church  of  St.  Peter  in  Barclay  Street,  in  February, 
and  visited  many  churches  in  New  York  and  Brook- 
lyn to  administer  confirmation  and  to  address  the 
faithful.^  St.  Paul's  Church,  Brooklyn,  erected  on  the 
site  presented  by  the  truly  Catholic  Cornelius  Heeny 
ill  1885,  was  completed  early  in  1838  and  solemnly 
dedicated  by  Bishop  Du  Bois  on  the  21st  of  January. 

'  Catholic  Ilemld,  vi.,  p.  2.     Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  p.  14. 

2  Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  p.  70;  Catholic  Herald,  vi.,  p.  69;  Catholic 
Advocate,  iii.,  p.  22. 


ST.   VINCENT'S  SEMINARY.  517 

After  the  destruction  of  the  partially  erected  college 
at  Nyack,  Bishop  Dii  Bois  abandoned  all  idea  of  re- 
building it  or  attempting  to  establish  a  college  there. 
His  next  thought  was  to  select  a  site  in  Brooklyn,  but 
Bishop  Hughes  soon  after  his  arrival  in  New  York 
was  inclined  to  accept  an  offer  made  him  at  a  reasonable 
price  of  a  farm  with  large  and  commodious  buildings 
at  Lafargeville  in  Jefferson  County.  A  visit  decided 
him  to  purchase  it,  and  open  a  college  and  seminary 
there.  A  prospectus  was  issued  and  the  institution 
opened  in  September  20,  1838,  under  the  title  of  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul's  Seminary,  with  Eev.  Francis  Guth 
as  Superior,  assisted  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Moran  and  Haes, 
and  some  tutors.  A  small  number  of  seminarians 
here  began  their  course,  and  a  few  pupils  entered  for 
a  collegiate  course,  but  before  the  close  of  the  ensuing 
year  it  became  evident  that  a  thriving  college  could 
never  grow  up  there,  and  Bishop  Hughes  sought  a 
favorable  site  nearer  the  city  of  New  York. 

In  December,  1838,  the  new  church  erected  at  Belle- 
ville, N.  J.,  by  the  Rev.  F.  Ferral,  was  dedicated  by 
Bishop  Du  Bois.^  Visits  were  made  to  other  stations 
in  that  State.  By  this  time  the  Coadjutor  was  pretty 
well  informed  from  actual  observation  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  Church  in  the  diocese,  the  disposition  of 
clergy  and  people,  their  resources,  and  the  need  of 
institutions.  The  trustee  system  had  been  a  perpetual 
clog  on  the  progress  of  the  Church,  and  with  no  real 
power  to  direct  the  affairs  of  the  diocese,  Bisliop 
Hughes  could  only  devise  plans  for  overcoming  this 
obstacle.' 

The  question  was  brought  to  a  test  sooner  than  he 
anticipated,  but  a  year's  residence  in  New  York  had 


'  Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  p.  261,  289;  Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  p.  254,  390. 


618       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

made  him  widely  known,  and  lie  Avas  looked  up  to  by 
the  faithful  generally  with  respect  and  esteem. 

Early  in  the  year  1839  a  case  occurred  which  showed 
Bishop  Hughes  that  a  struggle  between  the  authorities 
of  the  church  and  the  trustees  of  churches  could  not 
be  avoided.  A  civil  officer,  by  virtue  of  a  written  in- 
strument from  the  trustees  of  the  Cathedral,  expelled 
from  the  Sunday-school  a  teacher  appointed  by  the 
Bishop.  After  waiting  for  two  weeks  for  some  official 
expression  of  regret  or  explanation,  a  pastoral  address 
to  the  congregation  of  the  Cathedral  was  issued  in  the 
name  of  Bishop  Du  Bois,  but  it  bore  the  stamp  of  the 
vigorous  and  determined  character  of  Dr.  Hughes. 
"It  is  possible,"  says  the  Pastoral,  "  that  the  civil  law 
gives  them  the  power  to  send  the  constable  to  the  Sun- 
day-school, and  eject  even  the  Bishop  himself.  But 
if  it  does,  it  gives  them,  we  have  no  doubt,  the  same 
right  to  send  him  into  the  sanctuary  and  remove  any 
of  these  gentlemen  from  before  the  altar.  And  is  it 
your  intention  that  such  powers  may  be  exercised  by 
your  trustees  ?  If  so,  then  it  is  almost  time  for  the 
ministers  of  the  Lord  to  forsake  your  temple,  and  erect 
an  altar  to  their  God,  around  which  religion  shall  be 
free,  the  Council  of  Trent  fully  recognized,  and  the 
laws  of  the  Church  applied  to  the  government  and 
regulation  of  the  Church."^  It  then  took  up  other 
invasions  of  ecclesiastical  power  by  the  trustees,  who 
made  the  right  of  tlie  Bishop  to  appoint  priests  a 
nullity  by  refusing  them  means  of  subsistence,  who 
assumed  the  right  to  appoint  teachers  to  instruct  the 
children  in  their  religion,  to  appoint  and  remove  those 
who  attended  the  altar  or  chanted  the  divine  service. 


'  "  Pastoral  Address  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Bisliop  Du  Bois  to  the  congre- 
gation of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,"  New  Yorii,  Feb.  20,  1838. 


TRUSTEEISM.  519 

Expatiating,  himself,  from  the  pulpit,  on  this  state 
of  things,  Bishop  Hughes  distinguished  between  the 
pew  rents  they  had  contracted  to  pay  the  trustees,  and 
the  free  will  offerings  of  the  people,  made  according  to 
the  ancient  custom  of  the  church  at  the  offertory  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  clergy  and  of  divine  Avorship. 
As  the  trustees  refused  to  apply  these  offerings  accord- 
ing to  the  intention  of  the  faithful,  he  advised  his 
hearers  to  refuse  all  further  contributions,  not  to  put 
a  cent  in  the  plate  when  it  was  carried  around.  AVhen 
the  Bishop  and  his  clergy  felt  it  necessary  to  appeal 
to  the  faithful  for  means  of  support,  he  knew  that  the 
response  would  be  generous.  After  he  left  the  pulpit 
the  trustees  attempted  to  take  up  the  usual  collection, 
but  the  plates  went  down  the  aisles  empty  and  came 
back  empty. 

The  Bishop  before  leaving  the  sanctuary  called  a 
meeting  of  the  pewholders  of  the  Cathedral  the  same 
afternoon.  There  he  addressed  a  large  audience,  ap- 
pealing to  all  the  sacrifices  their  ancestors  had  made 
for  the  faith,  and  exhorting  them  not  to  sacrifice  the 
discipline  of  their  church  and  the  rights  of  their 
families  in  the  house  of  God  to  a  power  conferred  by 
the  State  with  a  view  to  their  good,  but  which  had 
been  perverted  to  interfere  with  the  discipline  and 
spiritual  authority  of  the  Church  established  by 
Christ.  A  preamble  and  resolutions  introduced  by 
him  were  adopted,  and  he  felt  that  he  had  won  the 
congregation.^ 

He  followed  up  the  subject  by  submitting  a  series 
of  questions  to  his  assembled  clergy,  and  they  all  sus- 
tained the  pastoral  letter,  declaring  that  its  principles 
could  not  be  denied  without  heresy  or  schism.      The 


'  Truth  Teller,  xv.,  p.  85. 


520       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

trustees  made  an  effort  to  oppose  the  will  of  the  con- 
gregation, but  the  Bishop  was  sustained.  As  the  next 
election  for  trustees  would  decide  the  matter,  Bishop 
Hughes  began  in  April  a  series  of  lectures  on  the 
connection  between  the  Catholic  religion  and  the 
system  of  secular  incorporation  of  lay  trustees,  which 
had  never  realized  the  anticiiDations  of  Archbishop 
Carroll,  who  had  been  by  circumstances  compelled  to 
tolerate  it,  but  on  the  contrary  had  produced  havoc  in 
many  parts  of  the  Catholic  fold.  He  traced  its  history 
in  different  States  and  convinced  the  faithful  of  its 
dangerous  character.  When  the  election  came  off, 
one  of  the  old  board  resigned,  and  the  three  members 
elected  represented  the  wishes  of  the  Bishop,  the 
clergy,  and  the  faithful.^ 

Bishop  Hughes  was  thus  free,  and  the  whole  diocese 
felt  the  influence  of  an  active,  masterful  prelate,  re- 
solved to  endow  it  with  the  churches  and  institutions 
it  so  sorely  needed.  The  effect  was  soon  visible. 
A  new  church  was  dedicated  at  Albany  ;  others  were 
begun  at  Watertown,  Jamaica,  and  Buffalo.  Be- 
quests to  churches  showed  an  awakened  spirit  of 
faith. 

The  coadjutor  Bishop,  in  the  summer  of  1839,  visited 
the  interior  and  northern  part  of  the  State,  officiating 
at  Utica  and  other  points.  The  little  flock  of  converts 
at  Pompey,  now  numbering  sixteen,  was  consoled  by 
the  presence  of  their  Bishop  in  the  private  chapel  of 
Col.  Dodge.^ 

Bishop  Du  Bois  had  survived  the  paralytic  strokes 


'  Truth  Teller,  xv.,  pp.  118-9. 

2  Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  pp.  383-389  ;  xv.,  pp.  31-189;  Catholic  Herald, 
Tii.,  pp.  246  ;  Catholic  Register,  1.,  pp.  45-157.  Auuals  of  the  Propaga- 
tion of  the  Faith,  iii.,  p.  227. 


OERTEL'S  CONVERSION.  521 

unci  clung  to  the  discharge  of  his  duties.  He  oflBciated 
not  only  in  New  York,  but  in  Brooklyn,  Albany,  and 
New  Jersey  ;  and  in  May,  1839,  visited  his  old  college, 
Mount  St.  Mary's,  to  receive  the  homage  of  all.  The 
whole  j)opulation  of  the  country  around  "poured 
forth  to  welcome  their  benefactor  and  to  ask  a  father's 
blessing  from  him."  His  inability,  however,  to  manage 
the  affairs  of  the  diocese  became  only  too  clear,  and 
in  August  ArchbishojD  Eccleston,  in  compliance  with 
orders  from  Rome,  announced  to  him  that  the  admin- 
istration of  the  diocese  was  thenceforward  to  be  con- 
fided to  his  Coadjutor.  The  aged  Bishop  laid  down 
the  authority  he  had  so  tenaciously  retained,  and 
devoted  the  rest  of  his  life  to  a  devout  preparation  for 
death.  He  survived  till  1842,  offering  the  holy  sacri- 
fice daily  to  the  last.  On  the  IStli  of  December  he 
was  taken  suddenly  ill,  and  received  extreme  unction. 
He  bore  his  iiain  without  a  murmur,  and  expired  on 
the  20th  with  the  names  of  Jesus,  Mary,  and  Josei)h  on 
his  lips.  At  his  own  desire  he  was  interred  at  the 
door  of  his  Cathedral.  The  services  he  had  rendered 
to  the  cause  of  religion  in  the  United  States  were 
not  forgotten.  His  eulogy  was  pronounced  by  Rev. 
William  Quarter,  soon  to  be  Bishop  of  Chicago,  and 
by  V.  Rev.  John  McCaffrey,  his  successor  at  Mount 
St.  Mary's. 

The  reception  into  the  church  of  a  Lutheran  clergy- 
man, Rev.  Maximilian  Oertel,  March  15,  1840,  was  a 
notable  event.  He  was  a  man  of  learning  and  piety, 
born  at  Ansbach,  Bavaria,  in  1811,  and  highly  com- 
mended by  the  heads  of  his  denomination.  The  course 
of   the   King  of  Prussia,  by  which  he  endeavored  to 


'  Catholic  Expositor,  iii.,  p.  308  :  Jubilee  of  Mount  St.  Mary's,  New 
York,  1889,  p.  235. 


522       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

unite  Lutherans  and  Calvinists  in  one  state  cliurcli, 
caused  many  Lutherans  to  emigrate  to  this  country. 
Rev.  Mr.  Oertel  was  sent  by  a  missionary  society  at 
Barmen  to  attend  the  emigrants  in  the  United  States. 
He  hoped  to  find  Lutheran  doctrine  followed  here  in 
all  its  purity  and  fervor,  but  to  his  regret  he  saw 
indifferentism  and  dissensions  prevailing  everywhere. 
He  began  to  doubt  the  solidity  of  Protestantism  :  a 
study  of  the  Fathers  convinced  him  that  it  was  not 
the  doctrine  or  worship  of  the  primitive  church  ;  when 
he  examined  the  claims  of  the  Catholic  Church  his 
mind  received  the  light  and  peace  it  sought. .  After  a 
course  of  preparation  he  was  received  by  Rev.  William 
Quarter  of  St.  Mary's  Church.  A  few  years  after  he 
established  a  German  Catholic  paper,  the  Kirchen 
Zeitung,  which  under  his  editorship  rendered  for 
many  years  essential  service  to  religion.^ 

The  German  Catholic  body  in  New  York  city  was 
now  increasing,  so  that  another  church  was  needed, 
and  in  June  the  corner-stone  of  St.  John  Baptist's  was 
laid  by  the  Y.  Rev.  Dr.  Power,  to  be  dedicated  on  the 
13th  of  September,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Hughes.^ 


■  "The  Reasons  of  John  James  Maximilian  Oertel,  late  a  Lutheran 
minister,  for  becoming  a  Catholic,"  New  York,  1840  ;  Catholic  Register, 
i.,  pp.  204,  213. 

^  Catholic  Register,  i.,  p.  293  ;  Freeman's  Journal,  i.,  p.  108. 


CHAPTER  V. 
DIOCESE  OF  NEW  YOEK. 

RT    REV    JOHN  HUGHES,  BISHOP  OF  BASILEOPOLIS,  ADMINISTRA- 
TOR, 1839-1842,  BISHOP  OF  NEW  YORK,  1842-1843. 

By  the  action  of  the  Holy  See  the  responsibility  of 
guiding  the  diocese  of  New  York  devolved  on  the  Rt. 
Rev.  John  Hughes.  It  was  a  day  of  great  men  in  the 
civil  order,  the  day  of  Clay,  Webster,  Calhoun,  yet 
few  men  of  that  era  spoke  so  directly  or  so  effectively 
to  the  American  people  as  Bishop  Hughes.  He  was  not 
an  ordinary  man.  It  had  been  well  said  that  in  any 
assemblage  he  would  have  been  notable.  He  was  full 
of  noble  thoughts  and  aspirations,  and  devoted  to  the 
Church ;  every  plan  and  every  project  of  his  mind 
aimed  at  the  greater  good  of  the  country. 

When  the  charge  was  imposed  upon  him,  Dr. 
Hughes  resolved  to  visit  Europe,  to  study  systems  of 
education  and  means  for  advancing  the  cause  of  re- 
ligion. Fully  convinced  of  the  resources  and  good 
will  of  his  flock,  he  sought  material  aid  far  less  than 
the  great  ideas  that  should  influence  the  action  of  the 
Church.  He  was  full  of  projects.  Important  ques- 
tions were  coming  up.  Early  in  1839  an  unfortunate 
man  was  condemned  to  death  in  Lewis  County.  He 
was  a  Catholic,  but  when  Rev.  Mr.  Gilbride,  the  priest 
in  whose  district  the  prison  stood,  sought  admission 
within  its  walls  to  give  the  doomed  man  the  last  con- 
solations of  religion,  he  found  the  doors  barred  against 
him.  In  behalf  of  a  penitent  Christian  soul  about  to 
face  eternity  the  priest  of  God  appealed  to  the  Gover- 

523 


524       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

nor  of  tlie  State  of  New  York.  The  moral  influence, 
rather  than  any  legal  power,  of  William  H.  Seward 
enabled  the  Catholic  jniest  to  exercise  his  ministry.^ 

When  the  Lafargeville  project  proved  nnavailing. 
Bishop  Hughes  sought  a  site  nearer  New  York  city 
for  his  college  and  seminary  and  finally  determined  on 
the  property  at  Rose  Hill,  Fordham,  which  he  pur- 
chased in  the  summer  of  1839  at  a  cost  of  about  thirty 
thousand  dollars.  To  establish  there  a  seminary  and 
institution  of  learning  Bishop  Hughes  called  upon  his 
flock  for  subscrii:»tions.  The  cli  urches  in  the  city  of  New 
York  showed  their  confidence  in  him  by  subscribing  at 
once  more  than  ten  thousand  dollars.  Leaving  this 
j)roject  to  be  carried  out  more  fully,  he  issued  a  pas- 
toral, announcing  the  retirement  of  Bishop  Du  Bois, 
and  explaining  to  some  extent  his  projects  for  the  gen- 
eral good.  On  the  16th  of  October  he  sailed  for  Eu- 
rope, leaving  the  diocese  in  the  hands  of  Very  Rev. 
John  Power  and  Very  Rev.  Felix  Varela.^ 

The  influence  he  had  already  created  was  soon  appa- 
rent. There  was  activity  everywhere.  In  September 
the  eloquent  voice  of  Dr.  Power  pleaded  for  a  church  at 
New  Brighton  ;  the  next  month  he  dedicated  the  newly 
erected  church  at  Schenectady  ;  soon  after,  lectures  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Levins  showed  that  science  was  no  stranger 
to  the  Catholic  Church.  During  the  absence  of  Bishop 
Hughes  in  Europe  a  movement  began,  which,  had  it 
been  initiated  by  him,  would  have  had  a  larger  and 
more  general  scope.  The  Catholic  schools  of  New 
York,  with  other  denominational  schools,  under  the 
school  act  of  1812,  received  a  ratable  proportion  of  the 
school  fund,  but  had  been  for  some  years  excluded 

'  Letter  of  Wm.  H.  Seward,  in  Truth  Teller,  xv.,  p.  242. 

'^  Truth  Teller,  xv.,  p.  276,  301.     Catholic  RcgiHter,  i.,  p.  33,  29. 


PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY.  526 

from  all  participation  in  it,  and  the  whole  amount 
was  given  to  a  j)rivate  corporation,  "The  Public 
School  Society." 

This  body  had  succeeded  in  excluding,  first  the 
Baptist  Bethel  Schools,  and  then  all  religious  schools, 
usurping  the  whole  fund  for  itself.  No  complaint 
had  been  made  against  the  Catholic  schools,  and  as 
the  schools  of  the  Public  School  Society  and  their 
school  books  were  offensively  Protestant,  the  Catholic 
body,  feeling  that  an  injustice  was  done  them,  moved 
to  obtain  a  restoration  of  the  old  system.  They  asked 
nothing  new.  The  action  of  the  Catholic  body, 
though  merely  local  and  conservative,  brought  into 
the  arena  of  public  opinion  a  question  that  has  not 
been  settled  in  half  a  century,  that  of  secular  and 
religious  education.^  Though  the  Baptists  had  been 
the  first  to  advocate  religious  instruction  of  the  young 
as  against  the  secularism  of  the  Public  School  Society, 
yet  as  soon  as  Catholics  advocated  it,  and  asked  a  re- 
turn to  the  old  New  York  system,  the  Protestant 
denominations,  generally,  arrayed  themselves  against 
the  religious  education  of  the  young.  At  this  time 
there  were  free  schools  attached  to  each  of  the  eight 
Catholic  churches  in  the  city,  and  more  than  five 
thousand  children  were  taught  daily  in  them.  The 
State  superintendent  had  called  the  attention  of  the 

'  Bourne,  "  History  of  the  Public  Scliool  Society  of  the  City  of  New 
Yorli,"  etc.,  New  Yorli,  1870,  pp.  48-75,  98, 108.  "  It  was  discovered  tliat 
one  congregation,  or  rather  its  pastor,  had  embarlied  in  the  business  of 
school  keeping  as  matter  of  speculation  and  had  established  three  charity 
schools.    By  deceptive  returns  he  managed  to  draw  from  the  fund  a, 

greater  sum  than  was  required  for  the  payment  of  teachers He 

then  procured  an  enactment Under  a  liberal  construction  .... 

he  ventured  to  build  a  church."  Petition  of  Public  School  Society,  lb., 
p.  182.  It  is  admitted  that  this  was  not  a  Catholic  but  a  Baptist  school ; 
*'  Remonstrance  and  Answer  of  the  Bethel  Free  School,"  1833. 


526      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

Legislature  to  the  fact,  and  to  the  apparent  injustice 
of  excluding  them  from  the  benefit  of  a  fund  to  which 
they  contributed. 

The  petition  of  the  Catholic  schools  (Feb.  17,  1840) 
to  the  Common  Council  was  rejected  ;  and  a  general 
meeting  of  Catholics  was  held  on  the  20th  of  March, 
in  which  a  memorial  to  the  legislature  was  adopted 
and  circulated  for  signatures.^ 

Bishoj)  Hughes,  after  reaching  Paris  and  being  pre- 
sented to  King  Louis  Philippe,  proceeded  to  Pome, 
where  he  spent  nearly  three  months,  laying  before  the 
Head  of  the  Church  the  condition  and  wants  of  his 
diocese.  After  receiving  valuable  i^resents  from  the 
Pope  he  continued  his  journey  to  Vienna,  and  exposed 
the  necessity  of  his  church  to  the  Leopoldine  Society, 
which  gave  him  substantial  aid  for  his  new  seminary 
and  college.  Returning  to  Paris  he  induced  the  Supe- 
rior of  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  to  found  an 
academy  in  New  York  city.  He  next  visited  London, 
was  introduced  to  Daniel  O'Connell,  and  spent  some 
time  in  Ireland.  He  arrived  in  New  York  on  the  18th 
of  July,  1840. 

By  this  time  the  agitation  of  the  school  question 
was  drifting  into  the  hands  of  politicians.  On  the  20th, 
two  days  after  his  arrival.  Bishop  Hughes  attended  a 
meeting  that  had  been  called,  and  in  a  careful  speech 
made  himself  the  controlling  spirit  of  the  movement. 
"An  Address  of  the  Roman  Catholics  to  their  fellow 
citizens  of  the  City  and  State,"  ^  from  his  pen,  set 
forth  distinctly  the  grounds  of  the  Catholic  ax)peal, 
and  presented  clearly  the  fact  that  the  Society  schools. 


'  "Catholic  Register,  i.,  p.  198,  212  ;  "  Report  of  the  Committee  oa 
Arts  and  Sciences  and  Schools,"  New  York,  1840. 

«  New  York,  Hugh  Cassidy,  1840. 


THE  GREAT  DEBATE.  527 

AA'hile  avowedly  non-sectarian,  were  tlioronglily  Prot- 
estant and  used  books  in  class  and  library  in  which 
Catholics  and  their  religion  were  coarsely  assailed. 
"  These  passages  were  not  considered  as  sectarian,  in- 
asmuch as  they  had  been  selected  as  mere  reading 
lessons,  and  were  not  in  favor  of  any  particular  sect, 
but  merely  against  the  Catholics.  We  feel  it  unjust 
that  such  passages  should  be  taught  at  all  in  our 
schools,  to  the  support  of  which  we  are  contributors 
as  well  as  others.  But  that  such  books  should  be  put 
into  the  hands  of  our  own  children,  and  that  in  part 
at  our  own  expense,  was  in  our  opinion  unjust,  unnat- 
ural, and  at  all  events  to  us  intolerable." 

The  address  excited  much  attention,  and  a  "Ke- 
ply"  to  its  arguments  appeared,  issued  evidently  by 
the  Public  School  Society. 

On  the  21st  of  September  a,  meeting  of  the 
Catholics  adopted  a  j^etition  for  relief,  which  was  at 
once  i^resented  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen  then  in 
session.  This  i^etition  showed  the  Society  schools 
not  to  be  such  as  would  permit  Catholics  to  send  their 
children  to  them,  and  asked  the  Common  Council 
that  eight  Catholic  schools  should  be  put  on  an 
equality  with  the  Society's  schools,  and  be  designated 
as  "entitled  to  participate  in  the  Common  School 
Fund,  upon  complying  with  the  requirements  of  the 
law,  and  the  ordinances  of  the  Corporation  of  the 
City." 

Besides  this  petition  there  was  presented  to  the  Com- 
mon Council  a  remonstrance  from  the  Public  School 
Society  and  a  protest  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

On  the  day  appointed  for  the  debate  before  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  on  the  Catholic  petition,  and  the 
opposing  documents,  October  29,  1840,  Bishop  Hughes 


528       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

stood  alone :    two  able    lawyers,  Theodore  Sedgwick 
and  Hiram  Ketchiim  were  arrayed  against  him,  with 
Rev.  Drs.  Bond,  Reese,  and  Bangs  of  the  Methodist 
Church,   Rev.  Dr.    Spring  of  the  Presbyterian,  and 
Rev.  Dr.  Knox  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Church.     The 
Bishop  began  by  explaining  the  Catholic  petition,  and 
the  grounds   of  the  prayer   for  relief  ;  he  then  ana- 
lyzed the  counter  documents  and  showed  that  they 
avoided  the  real  question  and  raised  false  issues.     Mr. 
Sedgwick  then  rose  in  defense  of  the  Public  School 
Society,  treating  its  history  at  length,  and  taking  the 
legal  ground  that  the  Common  Council  had  no  power 
to  grant  the  petition.     He  spoke  with  courtes}^,  but 
Mr.  Ketchum  followed  in  a  strain  of   virulence  and 
personal  invective,  eying  the  Bishop  as  if  he  were  some 
degraded  culprit  at  the  bar.     He  charged  the  Catho- 
lics with  trying  to  drive  the  Bible  from  the  schools. 
Bishop  Hughes  in  reply  showed  that  the  Catholics 
asked  no  modification  of  the  Public  School  Society  or 
its  schools.     He  said  and  trul}^ :   "I  conceive  the  true 
point  has  not  been  touched.     Not  one  of  our  objec- 
tions or  scruples  of  conscience  has  he  undertaken  to 
analyze,  nor  the  grounds  on  which  they  exist.     When 
I  gave  those  reasons  for  our  objections,  I  thought  some 
argument  would  have  been  urged  fairly  against  them, 
but  the  only  end  the  gentleman  has  in  view  is  the 
preservation  of  the  School  Society."     Dr.  Bond  took 
the  floor  next  day,  and  argued  that  to  grant  the  peti- 
tion was  to  give  money  for  sectarian  teaching  ;  he  then 
launched  into  a  general  attack  on  the  Catholic  Church 
as  a  persecuting  church,  citing  from  the  shamelessly 
fraudulent  edition  of  the  Rhemish  Testament  issued 
by  Protestants  in  New  York.     He  was  followed  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Reese  in  the  same  strain,  treating  the  schools 
of  the  Society  as  though  government  institutions  and 


THE  DEBATE.  529 

not  those  of  a  private  association.  "If  individuals 
among  us  choose  to  educate  their  own  children,  and 
refuse  to  avail  themselves  of  the  public  schools,  the 
act  is  their  own,  but  in  no  wise  furnishes  them  a  pre- 
text to  complain."  Rev.  Dr.  Knox  of  the  Dutch 
Reformed  Church  insisted  that  public  schools  were 
Protestant  institutions  and  held  that  Protestants 
could  not  yield  to  any  Catholic  claim.  "  Can  Protes- 
tants, believing  as  they  do  believe,  consent  to  be  di- 
rectly instrumental  in  elevating  to  strength  and  in 
cherishing  a  system  like  this?  I  think  not."  Rev. 
Dr.  Spring,  after  citing  Voltaire's  assertion  that  if 
there  was  no  alternative  between  infidelity  and  the 
dogmas  of  the  Catholic  Church,  he  w^ould  choose  infi- 
delity, added:  "I  would  choose,  sir,  in  similar  cir- 
cumstances, to  be  an  infidel  to-morrow." 

Bishop  Hughes  summed  up  for  the  petitioners.  He 
cited  historical  instances  to  show  the  tolerant  action  of 
Catholics.  In  regard  to  the  Bible,  he  said:  "They 
have  represented  us  as  contending  to  bring  the  Catho- 
lic Scriptures  into  the  public  schools.     This   is  not 

true They  have  represented  us  as  enemies  to 

the  Protestant  Scriptures."  "Now  if  I  had  asked 
this  honorable  board  to  exclude  the  Protestant  Scrip- 
tures from  the  schools,  then  there  might  have  been 
some  coloring  for  the  current  calumny.  But  I  have 
not  done  so.  I  say,  gentlemen  of  every  denomination, 
keep  the  Scriptures  you  reverence,  but  do  not  force  on 
me  that  which  my  conscience  tells  me  is  wrong."  "  I 
see  the  question  stand  precisely  where  it  did  before 
the  gentlemen  began  to  speak,  and  I  see  the  same 
false  issue,  and  I  challenge  any  gentleman  to  say  that 
it  is  not  a  false  issue — persevered  in  to  this  very  hour, 
so  that  our  argument  has  not  been  moved  one  iota ; 
there  must  therefore  be    something  powerful  in  our 


530       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

plain,  iinsopliisticated,  simple  statement,  when  all  the 
reasoning  brought  against  it  leaves  it  just  where  it 
was  before."  In  a  speech  lasting  three  hours  and  a 
half  Bishop  Hughes  reviewed  and  answered  his  oppo- 
nents, defending  the  Church  from  their  attacks,  and 
narrowing  the  subject  down  to  the  question  at  issue. 
In  regard  to  religious  teaching  in  the  parochial 
schools,  he  was  willing  to  have  it  after  regular  school 
hours  ;  he  even  offered  to  conform  the  system  of  teach- 
ing to  that  of  the  Public  School  Society,  and  make 
the  parochial  schools  subject  to  State  supervision. 
It  Avas  evident,  however,  that  the  question  would  be 
decided  by  jDrejudice  and  not  by  reason.  As  Bishop 
Hughes  well  said  :  "Eight  or  nine  hours  were  wasted 
in  the  discussion  of  a  theological  tenet,  but  not  one 
half-hour  was  given  to  the  only  questions  which  the 
Common  Council  should  have  permitted  to  come 
before  them,  namely  :  Are  the  rights  of  this  portion 
of  the  citizens  violated  or  not  ?  If  so,  is  there  in  our 
hands  the  means  to  ajiply  a  remedy  ?  "  ' 

The  Committee  of  the  Common  Council  on  the  12tli 
of  January,  1841,  reported  against  the  claim  of  the 
petitioners. 

The  Catliolics  then  forwarded  to  the  Legislature 
petitions  representing  their'  grievances  and  asking 
redress.  The  matter  was  referred  to  Hon.  John  C. 
Spencer,  Secretary  of  State,  who  reported  against  the 
exclusive  power  given  to  the  Public  School  Society  in 
New  York  City,  and  recommended  that  the  State 
system  should  be  extended  to  that  city.  Alarmed  for 
its   existence,    that    societ}^  sent   a   remonstrance  to 

'  "The  Important  and  Interesting  Debate  on  the  claim  of  the  Catholics 
to  a  portion  of  the  Common  School  Fund,"  New  York,  1840  ;  "  Report  of 
the  Special  Committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  petition  of  the  Catholics 
r.lative  to  the  distribution  of  the  School  Fund,"  etc.     [New  York,  1841.] 


IN  THE  LEGISLATURE. 


631 


the  Legislature  ;  and  Mr.  Ketclmm  again  appeared 
as  their  counsel;  he  was  answered  on  behalf  of 
the   petitioners   by  James  W.  McKeon  and  Wright 


CARROLL  HALL,   NOW  ST.    ANDREW'S  CHURCH. 

Hawkes.  Bishop  Hughes  also  reviewed  and  refuted 
Mr.  Ketchum's  arguments  in  a  meeting  of  the  Catholic 
body. 

The  matter  was  thus  in  the  hands  of  the  State  Legis- 


582       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

lature,  and  as  an  election  for  Senators  and  Assembly- 
men approached  the  friends  of  the  Public  School 
Society,  in  their  struggle  now  for  very  existence, 
approached  the  candidates  of  both  jDarties  and  secured 
from  most  of  them  a  pledge  to  vote  against  the  Catho- 
lic petition  and  the  law  proposed  by  Secretary  Silencer, 
Catholic  voters  were  thus  placed  in  a  position  where 
to  vote  for  either  party  was  to  vote  for  men  pledged 
against  them  ;  but  they  did  not.  Enthusiastic  meet- 
ing were  held  at  Carroll  Hall  to  adopt  a  suitable  course. 
Four  days  before  the  election  Bishop  Hughes  proposed 
an  independent  ticket,  taking  the  unx)ledged  candi- 
dates on  both  tickets  and  some  others,  A  few  Catho- 
lic politicians  attempted  to  cling  to  the  old  party  lines, 
but  it  was  suicide  ;  they  only  lost  the  confidence  of 
their  old  friends.  Catholics  to  the  number  of  2200 
supported  the  independent  ticket,  and  politicians  took 
alarm.  A  school  bill  introduced  by  William  B. 
Maclay  extended  to  New  York  city  the  provisions  of 
the  general  act  in  relation  to  common  schools.  It 
j)assed  on  the  9th  of  April,  1842:  and  the  Public 
School  Society  soon  went  out  of  existence.' 

No  substantial  gain  had  been  acquired  by  Catholics 
in  this  struggle.  Their  schools  were  as  far  from  relief 
as  ever  ;  but  instead  of  a  society  absolutelj^  hostile  to 
them  and  controlled  by  their  enemies,  a  system  of 
schools  was  created  in  which  for  a  time  they  had  at 
least  a  voice  in  electing  officers. 

The  improvements  required  to  adapt  the  buildings 

'  Bourne,  "  History  of  the  Public  Scliool  Society  of  the  City  of  New 
York,"  New  York,  1870  ;  Hassard,  "  Life  of  the  Most  Rev.  John  Hughes, 
D.D.,  first  Archbishop  of  New  York"  ;  New  York,  1866,  ch.  xiv.  The 
attitude  of  Protestant  denominations  in  identifying  themselves  completely 
with  the  Public  School  Society  was  a  strong  and  fatal  proof  of  its  Protes- 
tant and  anti- Catholic  character.  A  system  that  meets  the  full  approval 
of  bitterly  prejudiced  religionists  cannot  be  fair  to  all. 


ST.  JOHN'S  COLLEGE,  533 

at  Rose  Hill,  Fordliam,  which  had  been  purchased  for 
a  college  and  seminary,  were  carried  on  during  the 
year  1840,  and  in  the  autumn  the  seminary,  which 
took  the  name  of  St.  Joseph,  was  removed  to  it  from 
Lafargeville.  The  new  seminary  opened  with  fourteen 
seminarians,  Rev.  Felix  Vilanis  being  Suj^erior,  in  a 
small  stone  dwelling  that  stood  west  of  the  main 
edifice. 

To  complete  all  the  requirements  for  the  college,  the 
Bishop  appealed  earnestly  to  the  faithful  at  the  outset 
of  1841.  It  was  opened  for  the  reception  of  students 
on  the  eve  of  St.  John  the  Baptist's  day,  June  24, 1841, 
with  the  Rev.  John  McCloskey  as  President  and  pro- 
fessor of  rhetoric  ;  Rev.  Ambrose  Manahan,  Vice 
President  and  x^rofessor  of  Greek  ;  Rev.  Edward 
O'Neill,  professor  of  natural  philosophy  ;  John  J. 
Conroy,  professor  of  Latin  ;  John  Harley,  prefect  of 
discipline.^ 

The  next  year  the  seminary  had  thirty  students, 
nineteen  pursuing  their  theological  course,  so  that 
Bishop  Hughes  could  look  forward  to  a  supply  of 
l)riests  for  his  diocese,  trained  under  his  own  eye.  St. 
John's  College  had  fifty  pupils  and  Avas  gradually 
gaining  the  confidence  of  Catholic  parents,  which 
became  thorough  when  Rev.  John  Harley,  a  man  of 
singular  ability,  was  placed  in  the  chair  of  President. ^ 

A  review  of  the  state  of  religion  in  the  diocese  at 
this  time,  by  Bishop  Hughes,  resulting  from  his  visita- 
tion, dwells  on  the  rapid  progress  of  the  temperance 
cause  throughout  the  State,  leading  many  to  seek  in 
the  sacraments  grace  from  God  to  avoid  sin  and  the 
occasions  of  sin.     Albany  had  two  large  and  commo- 

'  Card  (Jan.  20,  1841)  in  Freeman's  Journal,  i.,  p.  230,  391  ;  Hassard, 
352. 

-  Rev.  Ambrose  Manahan  to  Cardinal  Franzoni,  Oct.  1,  1842. 


634       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


dioiis  cliurches,  and  the  faithful  of  German  origin, 
numbering  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and 
sixty  families,  were  making  an  effort  to  erect  a  third 
church.  Troy  too  had  two  churches,  but  another  was 
needed  at  West  Troy.  Lansingburgh  needed  a  church,  • 
and  a  site  had  been  purchased  at  Watertown,  the  ven- 
erable Mr.  Rawson  promising  substantial  aid.     Schen- 


|E  B  If  S  H 


ST.    JOHN  S   COLLEGE,  ROSE   HILL. 

ectady,  which  a  few  years  before  had  been  a  station 
visited  monthly  from  Albany,  had  now  a  neat  brick 
church  and  a  flourishing  congregation.  A  priest  was 
stationed  at  Little  Falls.  The  German  Catholics  of 
Utica  had  just  bought  a  church.  Rome  had  a  beauti- 
ful Greek  church  on  an  eminence,  the  site  being  the 
gift  of  Jasper  Lynch.  '  The  church  at  Salina  was  too 
small  for  the  congregation,  and  the  jjortion  living  at 
Syracuse  were  taking  steps  to  erect  a  house  of  wor- 


FINANCIAL  DIFFICULTIES.  535 

ship  of  their  own.  At  Geneva  little  progress  was 
made  and  mismanagement  by  trustees  had  entailed 
heavy  losses.  Auburn  and  Seneca  Falls,  attended  by 
the  same  priest,  showed  no  great  prosperity.  Roches- 
ter cheered  the  Bishop  by  the  prospect  of  a  permanent 
increase  ;  it  had  already  two  large  and  commodious 
churches,  yet  two  others,  one  for  Germans  under  the 
Redemptorist  Fathers,  were  already  projected.  The 
French  and  Canadians  also  desired  a  church.  He  sta- 
tioned Rev.  Dennis  Kelly  at  Greece,  which  had  been 
for  some  time  deprived  of  a  priest.^ 

New  York  city  gained  also  another  church,  dedi- 
cated to  St.  John  the  Evangelist  by  the  Bishop,  May  9, 
1841,  and  erected  on  Fifth  Avenue  and  Fiftieth  Street, 
by  the  zealous  priest  Rev.  John  Maginniss,  who  took 
up  his  residence  in  the  old  Jesuit  College. 

The  financial  condition  of  many  of  the  churches  of 
the  diocese  had  become  a  matter  of  serious  thought 
to  Bishop  Hughes.  Churches  already  in  existence 
found  it  necessary  to  devote  much  of  the  income  to 
meet  the  interest  on  mortgages  and  diminish  the  float- 
ing debt,  leaving  them  helpless  to  establish  schools  or 
care  effectually  for  the  poor  and  the  orphan.  New 
churches  could  not  be  erected  while  others  in  the  same 
district  required  all  possible  resources.  In  the  hope 
of  being  able  to  remedy  or  alleviate  this  condition, 
Bishop  Hughes  organized,  in  the  spring  of  1841,  "  The 
New  York  Catholic  Church  Debt  Association,"  and 
also  issued  a  Family  Circular  ;  the  plan  was  to  divide 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  into  districts  and  collect 
from  each  family  a  small  monthly  contribution.  The 
project  was  taken  up  at  once  with  a  good  deal  of  spirit, 


'  Most  Rev.  John  Hughes,  "Complete  Works,"  New  York,  1864,  ii. 
pp.  437-443. 


536       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  $17,000  was  collected  the  first  year,  but  after  that 
interest  flagged  and  the  plan  was  abandoned.  At  a 
subsequent  period  the  Bishop  endeavored  to  borrow 
money  at  a  low  rate  in  Belgium  to  take  up  all  the 
mortgages  on  his  churches,  but  this  plan  met  no  suc- 
cess.^ 

The  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  five  in  number, 
arrived  in  New  York  in  May,  1841,  under  Madame 
Elizabeth  Galitzin,  who  had  come  to  the  United  States 
in  the  month  of  August  of  the  preceding  year  as 
visitor  of  the  houses  of  her  order  in  this  country.  Re- 
turning to  New  York  May  6,  1841,  she  established  the 
convent  of  New  York  with  five  Ladies,  who  were  soon 
followed  by  seven  others  of  the  community.  They 
took  possession  of  a  large  house  at  the  corner  of 
Houston  and  Mulberry  streets,  which  had  been  occu- 
pied by  a  young  ladies'  academy  of  repute.  Madame 
Galitzin  remained  here  six  months  superintending 
the  necessary  modifications,  and  organizing  the  new 
community.  During  her  stay  she  executed  three 
paintings  for  the  chapel.^  The  educational  advantages 
afforded  by  this  new  academy  made  it  extremely 
popular  among  the  more  wealthy  Catholic  families. 
The  house  soon  proved  too  confined  for  the  purj)ose. 
Madame  Bathilde,  the  Superior,  purchased  the  Gibbs 

'  Freeman's  Journal,  i.,  pp.  357,  364.  355,  379  ;  Hassard,  pp.  254,  269. 
•'  The  Catholic  Churches  of  New  York  city,"  New  York,  1878,  p.  426. 

'  "  Notice  sur  Madame  Elizabeth  Galitzin,  religieuse  du  Sacre-Cceur," 
1795-1843,  Tours,  1858,  p.  30.  Freeman's  Journal,  i.,  p.  372  ;  Catholic 
Herald  ix.,  p.  172.  Madame  Galitzin,  daughter  of  Prince  Alexis  Galit- 
zin, was  born  in  St.  Petersburg,  Feb.  22,  1795.  Her  mother  became  a 
Catholic,  but  Elizabeth  felt  only  hatred  against  the  Church.  In  1815, 
however,  she  too  yielded  to  divine  grace,  and  in  December,  1826,  she  be- 
came a  novice  of  the  Sacred  Heart.  She  returned  to  Europe  in  1842, 
but  was  again  here  as  a  visitor  the  next  year,  and  died  Dec.  8,  1843,  at 
Saint  Michael,  La.,  of  yellow  fever. 


A  FRENCH  CHURCH.  637 

property  at  Astoria  in  1844  ;  but  two  years  afterwards 
the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart  acquired  the  Lorillard 
property  at  Manhattanville,  where  they  still  remain. 
Two  branches  of  the  institution  have  been  established 
in  New  York  city  ;  there  is  also  a  convent  at  Ken- 
wood, near  Albany,  and  one  at  Eden  Hall,  near  Phila- 
delphia.' 

New  York  had  long  had  a  number  of  Catholics  of 
French  birth  or  origin,   many  of  whom  seldom  fre- 
quented the  churches,  some  even  being  drawn  to  the 
French  Protestant  church.     Monseigneur  de  Forbin 
Janson,  Bishop  of  Nancy  in  France,  who  had  been  for 
some  time  in  America,  virtually  an  exile,  and  who 
had  preached  missions  in  Canada  and  Louisiana,  saw 
with  regret  the  condition  of  his  countrymen  in  New 
York.     In  February,  1841,  he  gave  a  mission  at  St. 
Peter's  Church  to  the  French  Catholics  and  roused 
their  zeal  to  establish  a  church  for  themselves.     A- 
meeting  was  at  once  held  and  steps  taken  to  carry  out 
the  project,    to  which    Rt.    Eev.    Dr.    Hughes   gave 
hearty  encouragement.     The  site  of  a  church  in  Canal 
Street,  recently  destroyed  by  fire,  was  soon  purchased, 
Bishop  Forbin  Janson  lending  six  thousand  dollars  to 
aid  in  building.     He  never  called  for  the  loan,   but 
transferred  his  right  to  the  diocese.     The  corner-stone 
of  the  Church  of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  was  laid  by  Mr. 
de  la  Foret,  consul  general  of  France,  October  11, 1841. 
The  church  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $38,000,  and  was 
dedicated  by  Bishop  Hughes  on  the  21st  of  August, 
1842.      The   Rev.  Mr.  Deydier  was  installed  tempo- 
rarily as  rector,  but  as  it  proved   difficult  to  obtain 
zealous  and  devoted  priests  for  the  Church,  the  Bishop 

■  Bayley,  "  A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  on 
he  Island  of  New  York,"  New  York.  1853,  p.  107  ;  Bishop  Hughes  to 
the  Cardinal  Prefect,  May  14,  1847. 


538       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  Nancy  induced  the  Priests  of  the  Society  of  Mercy, 
a  congregation  founded  by  Rev.  Mr.  Rauzan,  to  as- 
sume the  direction.  The  Rev.  Annet  Lafont,  S.P.M., 
accordingly  arrived  in  1852,  and  the  church  has  since 
been  under  the  pastoral  care  of  that  society,  which 
has  labored  also,  as  we  shall  see,  in  Florida,  Brooklyn 
and  Southern  New  Jersey.^  The  new  church  did  not 
escape  the  malevolent  spirit  then  rife  in  the  country. 
On  the  1st  of  November,  1842,  some  persons  gained 
entrance  to  the  church  by  night,  destroyed  the  taber- 
nacle, carried  off  many  articles  of  value,  and  set  fire  to 
the  edifice  in  several  x^laces.^ 

Neither  Bishop  Connolly  nor  Bishop  Du  Bois  had 
ever  been  able  to  hold  a  diocesan  synod  and  frame 
regulations,  but  the  clergy  had  so  increased  in  numbers 
that  in  1842  Bishop  Hughes  deemed  it  necessary  to 
hold  one.^  After  the  clergy  had  devoted  six  days  to 
'a  spiritual  retreat  at  St.  John's  College,  they,  to  the 
number  of  fifty-four,  met  in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral 
on  the  fifteenth  Sunday  after  Pentecost,  August  28, 
1842.  A  discourse  was  delivered  by  Rev.  John  McEl- 
roy,  S.  J.,  and  the  profession  of  faith  was  made  by  all. 
The  other  sessions  were  held  at  the  college,  wliere  the 
statutes  proposed  by  the  Bishop  were  submitted  to 
them  for  any  modification  experience  on  the  mission 
might  suggest.  These  statutes  required  a  baptismal 
font  in  every  church  with  a  fixed  pastor,  and  the 
administration  of  the  sacrament  there  and  not  in 
private  houses,  except  in  danger  of  death.     The  Roman 


'  De  Courcy,  "  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States."  p.  431  ;  "  The 
Catholic  Churches  of  New  York  city,  "New  York,  1878,  p.  701  ;  Free- 
man's Journal,  Feb.  1,  March,  1841. 

'  Freeman's  Journal,  Nov.  5, 1843. 

3  See  circular  Letter  to  the  clergy,  July  28, 1843.     Works,  i.,  p.  313. 


SYNOD  OF  1842.  539 

Ritual  was  to  be  followed  in  all  cases.  The  custom  of 
the  diocese  in  not  preparing  the  young  for  confirma- 
tion till  after  their  first  communion  was  retained. 
Rules  were  adopted  for  the  reverent  administration  of 
the  Holy  Eucharist  to  the  sick  and  its  proper  reserva- 
tion in  the  tabernacle.  Suitable  confessionals  were 
to  be  set  up  in  all  churches  within  three  months. 
Priests  were  not  to  officiate  at  marriages  unless  four 
days'  previous  notice  was  given,  in  order  to  prevent 
rash  and  sometimes  forbidden  unions,  and  the  mar- 
riage was  to  be  celebrated  in  the  parochial  district  to 
which  the  parties  or  one  of  them  belonged.  The  faith- 
ful were  to  .be  warned  from  time  to  time  against  con- 
tracting marriage  before  a  civil  magistrate,  or  any  but 
a  Catholic  clergyman.  The  marriages  of  Germans 
were  to  take  place  before  a  priest  having  charge  of  a 
German  congregation.  No  priest  was  to  officiate  at  a 
marriage  where  the  parties  had  been  or  were  to  be 
married  by  a  Protestant  clergyman.  Catholics  were 
to  be  warned  against  mixed  marriages,  and  no  such 
marriage  was  to  be  performed  without  a  dispensation, 
and  a  pledge  of  the  non-Catholic  party  that  the  Catho- 
lic one  should  enjoy  full  liberty  of  conscience  to 
practice  her  religion,  and  that  the  children  should  be 
brought  up  Catholics. 

The  celebration  of  mass  with  proper  and  becoming 
vestments  and  the  altar  neatly  kept  was  prescribed  : 
and  all  churches  were  required  to  have  a  proper  cope, 
veil,  monstrance,  and  censer  for  the  office  of  the  Bene- 
diction of  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  No  priest  was  to 
be  absent  from  his  church  on  Sunday  without  permis- 
sion. Funeral  services  were  not  to  be  held  in  houses, 
or  in  English,  and  funeral  orations  were  discounte- 
nanced. Steps  were  to  be  taken  to  prevent  the  burial 
in  consecrated  ground  of  those  who  had  by  their  lives 


540       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  the  neglect  of  the  sacraments  cut  themselves  off 
from  the  body  of  the  church. 

In  the  important  matter  of  church  property  it  was 
enacted  that  trustees  should  not  expend,  without  leave 
of  the  pastor  of  the  church,  money  contributed  by  the 
faithful  for  the  maintenance  of  religion  and  the  clergy. 
Neither  pastor  nor  trustees  were  to  make  any  extra- 
ordinary outlay  exceeding  $100  without  the  permission 
of  the  Bishop.  Priests  were  required,  under  j)ain  of 
suspension,  to  report  infringements  of  this  rule.  They 
were  to  prepare  an  inventory  of  all  ecclesiastical  j)rop- 
erty,  and  to  present  to  the  Bishop  at  his  visitation  a 
statement  of  the  financial  condition  of  the  church,  and 
for  this  purpose  were  to  have  free  access  to  the 
minutes  and  account  books  of  the  trustees.  No  priest 
was  to  hold  the  title  of  church,  parochial  residence,  or 
cemetery  in  his  own  name,  but  to  have  it  vested  in  the 
Bishop  of  the  diocese.  All  persons  engaged  in  taking 
part  in  the  public  services  of  the  Church  and  in  teach- 
ing were  to  be  appointed  by  the  priest  in  charge  of  the 
parochial  district.  No  meetings  were  to  be  held  in 
the  church  or  basement  without  his  leave.  The  letting 
of  pews  by  auction  was  discountenanced.  Provision 
was  made  for  a  cathedraticum  or  regular  annual  con- 
tribution from  each  church  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Bishop.  The  faithful  were  to  be  warned  against  secret 
societies,  or  the  taking  of  oaths  to  support  factions, 
and  the  sacraments  were  to  be  denied  to  those  who 
persisted  in  adhering  to  such  organizations,  which  had 
wrought  greaiE  evils  among  the  laboring  class,  leading 
to  perjury  and  the  sacrifice  of  human  life.* 

After  the  close  of  the  synod  Bishop  Hughes  made 


'  Synodus  Diocesara  Neo  Eboracensis  Prima  habita  anno  1843.     New 
York,  1842. 


TRUSTEEISM.  541 

known  these  statutes  to  the  faithful  in  a  pastoral 
letter  issued  on  the  8th  of  SeiDtember.  He  pictured 
the  condition  of  the  Church  under  British  rule  during 
the  days  of  persecution,  and  the  neglect  of  many  salu- 
tary laws  of  the  Church  resulting  from  the  oppressed 
state  of  the  clergy  and  faithful ;  but  in  a  country  like 
this,  where  freedom  was  accorded  to  all,  it  became  a 
duty  to  return  to  the  ordinary  and  uniform  laws  and 
ordinances  of  the  Church.  In  regard  to  ecclesiastical 
property  he  said:  "  One  of  the  most  perplexing  ques- 
tions connected  with  the  well-being  of  religion  is  the 
tenure  and  administration  of  ecclesiastical  j)roperty. 
A  system  growing,  perhaps,  out  of  the  circumstances 
of  the  times,  has  prevailed  in  this  country,  which  is 
without  a  parallel  in  any  other  nation  or  in  the  whole 
history  of  the  Catholic  Church.  That  system  is  the 
leaving  ecclesiastical  property  under  the  management 
of  laymen,  who  are  commonly  designated  trustees. 
We  do  not  disguise  that  our  conviction  of  this  sys- 
tem is,  that  it  is  altogether  injurious  to  religion,  and 
not  less  injurious  to  the  piety  and  religious  character 
of  those  who,  from  time  to  time,  are  called  upon  to 
execute  its  offices."  After  explaining  that  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Church  had  always  been  regarded  as  that 
of  God,  he  explained  the  responsibility  imposed  by 
the  canons  of  the  Church  on  the  bishops  and  clergy  to 
preserve  it  intact.  Under  the  trustee  system,  with 
boards  changing  from  year  to  year,  debts  incurred 
by  one  set  were  neglected  or  repudiated  by  their  suc- 
cessors, contracts  were  made  leaving  the  burden  to  be 
met  by  others  ;  there  was  no  supervision,  no  remedy, 
and  many  churches  drifted  year  by  year  to  bank- 
ruptcy. This  made  the  yearly  statement  of  the  finan- 
cial condition  of  each  church  absolutely  necessary. 
To  enable  the  pastor  to  make  this,  access  to  the  ac- 


642       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

counts  and  minutes  of  the  trustees  became  necessary. 
The  Bishop  added,  "  Should  it  happen  that  any  board 
of  trustees,  or  other  lay  persons  managing  the  tem- 
X)oral  affairs  of  any  church  or  congregation,  should 
refuse  to  let  them  see  the  treasurer's  books,  and  the 
minutes  of  official  proceedings,  they  are  required  to 
give  us  immediate  notice  of  such  refusal.  We  shall 
then  adopt  such  measures  as  the  circumstances  of  each 
case  may  require  ;  but  in  no  case  shall  we  tolerate  the 
presence  of  a  clergyman  in  any  church  or  congrega- 
tion in  which  such  refusal  shall  be  persevered  in."^ 

The  statutes  and  the  j)astoral  letter  we;;e  received 
with  general  respect  by  the  Catholics  of  the  diocese. 
Several  of  the  newspapers  of  the  day,  however,  made 
the  pastoral  the  subject  of  virulent  attack,  and  the 
Bishop  replied  at  some  length.  St.  Louis's  Church  in 
Buffalo  alone  showed  a  disposition  to  resist  the  stat- 
utes of  the  synod.  When  the  pastoral  was  read,  a 
meeting  was  called  at  Avliich  resolutions  Avere  adopted 
declining  to  submit,  and  expressing  regret  "not  to  be 
able  to  comply  with  the  Bishop's  request."  The 
answer  of  the  Bishop  was,  "  Should  you  determine 
that  your  church  shall  not  be  governed  by  the  general 
law  of  the  diocese,  then  we  shall  claim  the  privilege 
of  retiring  from  its  walls  in  peace,  and  leave  you  also 
in  peace  to  govern  it  as  you  will.  Indeed  we  must 
keep  our  peace  at  all  events,  and  charity  also."  He 
then  directed  the  pastor  Rev.  Mr.  Pax  to  enforce  the 
statutes,  and  if  the  trustees  prevented  his  doing  so,  to 
withdraw  from  the  church,  bringing  the  sacred  vessels. 
Finding  them  obstinate.  Rev.  Mr.  Pax  resigned  and 
left  the  country.  After  a  time  they  asked  the  Bishop 
for  a  clergyman,  although  they  were  constantly  calum- 

'  Pastoral.     Works  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  Hughes,  i.,  p.  314. 


ST.  LOUIS'S  CHURCH,  BUFFALO.  543 

mating  him  in  the  public  paj)ers.  His  reply  and  his 
action  were  decisive:  "You  shall  not  govern  your 
Bishop,  but  your  Bishop  shall  govern  you  in  all  eccle- 
siastical matters.  When  you  are  willing  to  walk  in 
the  way  of  your  holy  faith,  as  your  forefathers  did, 
and  be  numbered  among  the  Catholic  flock  of  the  dio- 
cese, precisely  as  all  other  trustees  and  congregations 
are,  then  I  shall  send  you  a  priest,  if  I  should  have 
one."  By  this  time  he  was  Bishop  of  New  York,  and 
as  such  he  sent  two  priests  avIio  established  a  new 
church.  The  trustees  attempted  to  appeal  to  Rome, 
but  soon  learned  that  they  must  be  condemned.  In 
the  summer  of  1844  they  submitted,  made  a  public 
acknowledgment  of  their  errors  in  a  card  drawn  up 
by  the  Bishop  himself.  Then  only  were  the  services 
resumed  in  St.  Louis's  Church.^ 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1842,  Bishop  Hughes 
visited  congregations  in  the  central  and  northern 
parts  of  the  State,  confirming  the  young,  dedicating 
churches,  and  preaching  constantlj'',  although  his 
health  began  to  yield  to  his  labors. 

He  attended  the  fifth  Council  of  Baltimore,  in  May, 
1843,  and  there  requested  the  Fathers  to  solicit  from 
the  Holy  See  the  appointment  of  a  coadjutor.  For 
the  position  he  recommended  Rev.  John  McCloskey, 
rector  of  St.  Joseph's  Church,  and  for  a  time  Presi- 
dent of  St.  John's  College,  Fordham.  Soon  after  the 
close  of  the  council  he  sailed  to  Europe,  one  of  his 
main  objects  being  to  secure  a  loan  for  the  diocese  on 
advantageous  terms.^ 

'  See  further,  "  Letters  of  St.  Louis's  Church,  Buffalo,"  Buffalo,  1853  ; 
"  Die  Angelegenheiten  der  St.  Louis  Kirche  zu  Buffalo,"  Buffalo,  1853  ; 
Hassard,  p.  261. 

^  Hassard,  p.  268  ;  Autobiography  of  Thurlow  Weed,  Boston,  1884, 
i.,  p.  548,  ii.,  p.  102. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
DIOCESE  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

RT.    REV.    HENRY    CONWELL,    SECOND   BISHOP,    1820-1842 :  V.   REV. 

WILLIAM  MA.TTHEWS,  VICAR-APOSTOLIC,  1829-1830  ;  RT.  REV. 

FRANCIS    PATRICK     KENRICK,    BISHOP     OF    ARATH, 

COADJUTOR  AND  ADMINISTRATOR,  1830-1812. 

After  the  first  Provincial  Council  the  unfortunate 
diocese  of  Philadelphia,  although  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Con- 
well  retained  the  title  of  Bishop,  continued  to  be 
administered  by  the  Very  Rev.  William  Matthews. 
Fathers  Harold  and  Ryan  withdrew  from  the  country.* 

Pittsburgh,  at  the  extreme  west  of  the  diocese, 
showed  activity.  In  1828  Sister  Frances  Van  de  Vogel, 
of  the  second  order  of  St.  Francis,  with  another  Poor 

Clare,  founded  a  convent  and  academy  on  the  cliff  over- 
looking the  Allegheny  River.  Encouraged  by  Father 
Maguire  they  prospered  so  that  they  bought  sixty 
acres  on  a  hill  west  of  Allegheny  and  erected  the  con- 
vent of  Mount  Alverno.  In  time,  they  had  a  chaplain. 
Rev.  A.  F.  Van  de  Wejer.^ 
Catholics  increased  so    in  numbers    that  in   1829 


'  Truth  Teller,  v.,  pp.  254,  309.  It  is  a  somewhat  curious  fact  that 
these  two  clergymen,  after  appealing  to  the  United  States  government  to 
protect  their  right  as  citizens,  left  the  country  altogether  rather  than 
go  to  Ohio. 

2  Lambing.  "History  of  the  Dioceses  of  Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny," 
p.  48. 

544 


RT.  REV.  F.  P.  KENRICK.  645 

Father  Magiiire  commenced  the  erection  of  a  fine 
gothic  church,  one  of  the  largest  yet  seen  in  the 
United  States. 

Aware  of  the  recommendation  of  a  clergyman  as 
Coadjutor  of  Philadelphia  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Pro- 
vincial Council,  tlie  Vicar- Apostolic  awaited  his  formal 
election  and  consecration  in  order  to  lay  down  the 
charge  imposed  upon  him. 

Rev.  Francis  Patrick  Kenrick  had  been  sent  specially 
to  the  diocese  of  Bardstown,  from  Rome,  that  his  vast 
theological  learning  and  clear,  vigorous  intellect  might 
serve  to  train  priests  for  the  American  missions.  He 
had  shewn  himself  in  Kentucky  not  only  an  able  pro- 
fessor but  an  eloquent  and  active  priest,  ready  to 
labor  in  the  humblest  capacity.  Other  dioceses  had 
sought  to  secure  him,  but  Bishop  Flaget's  influence 
retained  him  till  this  time.  The  Sovereign  Pontiff 
appointed  him  Bishop  of  Arath,  and  coadjutor  to  the 
Bishop  of  Philadelphia  confiding  to  him  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  diocese. 

Bishop  Conwell  received  the  tidings  with  resignation, 
and  though  broken  by  years  and  trouble  he  set  out  for 
Kentucky  to  assist  in  his  consecration.  On  the  6th  of 
June,  1830,  the  feast  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Bishop  Fla- 
get,  with  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Conwell  and  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  David 
as  assistants,  consecrated  Dr.  Kenrick,  in  pursuance  of 
the  bulls  ;  Bishop  England  of  Charleston  and  Bishop 
Fenwick  of  Cincinnati  being  also  present. 

On  the  19th  of  May  Bishop  Kenrick  issued  an  address 
to  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  to  which  he  was  assigned, 
and  to  the  laity.  He  encouraged  the  priests  in  their 
labors,  commending  the  care  of  the  poor,  prayer,  medi- 
tation, and  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  The 
Sisters  of  Charity  and  Poor  Clares,  the  communities 
in  the  diocese,  he  encouraged  to  persevere  in  their  holy 


546       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

state  and  charitable  labors.  The  laity  he  urged,  in 
words  of  Scripture,  to  unity,  peace,  charity,  and  the 
pursuit  of  all  virtue  by  obedience  to  the  Church  and 
their  j)astors.^ 

After  receiving  testimonials  of  the  esteem  and  regard 
which  his  labors  in  Kentucky  had  won,^  Bishop  Ken- 
rick  set  out  for  Philadelphia,  accompanied  by  the 
Right  Rev.  Dr.  Con  well. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June  they  reached  Pittsburgh, 
where  the  new  Church  of  St.  Paul  was  rising,  the 
Catholic  population  having  increased  to  four  thou- 
sand, many  by  conversion,  and  the  baptisms  in  ten 
years  numbering  1214.  Dr.  Kenrick  confirmed  and 
preached  in  St.  Patrick's  Church  and  visited  the  Con- 
vent of  Poor  Clares,  where  he  gave  the  veil  to  two 
candidates  and  administered  conlirmation. 

Rev.  Patrick  O'Neill  had  erected  churches  in  Arm- 
strong and  Butler  counties.  Examining  the  churches 
at  Blairsville  and  Ebensburg,  Bishoj)  Con  well  and  his 
coadjutor  reached  Loretto,  where  they  were  welcomed 
by  Prince  Gallitzin.  On  the  4th  of  July  Bishop  Con- 
well  dedicated  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in 
Huntingdon.  Then,  by  way  of  Lewistown,  where  a 
neat  frame  church  was  ready  for  dedication,  they  ar- 
rived at  Harrisburg,  tlie  capital  of  the  State.  Here 
Rev.  Michael  Curran  had  a  fine. church  and  a  school 
under  Sisters  of  Charity.  Rev.  Bernard  Keenan  next 
welcomed  them  in  the  ancient  town  of  Lancaster. 

Bishop  Conwell  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Coadjutor  reached 
Philadelphia  on  the  7tli  of  July.  After  receiving  the 
congratulations  of  clergy  and  laity,  the  two  prelates 

'  Rev.  F  .P.  Kenrick  to  Archbishop  Whitfield,  May  30,  1830  ;  Truth 
Teller,  vi.,  p.  244  ;  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  343  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  23. 

*  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  355. 


VISITATIONS.  547 

visited  the  churches  and  the  orjihan  asylums,  one 
just  erected  by  Rev.  John  Hughes.^  After  acquaint- 
ing himself  with  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the  city, 
Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Kenrick  assumed  control  as  adminis- 
trator of  the  diocese.  Early  in  August  he  was  at  Wil- 
mington, Delaware,  giving  confirmation  and  encour- 
aging the  Sisters  of  Charity,  who  had  just  gathered 
forty  orphans  in  their  asylum.  A  few  days  later  a 
church  was  dedicated  at  Pleasant  Mills,  in  the  New 
Jersey  portion  of  the  diocese.  In  September,  Bishop 
Kenrick  not  only  confirmed  but  gave  holy  orders  in 
the  ancient  church  of  Conewago  to  five  candidates, 
led  there  by  Rev.  Dr.  Brute  ;  he  was  soon  after  dedi- 
cating the  church  erected  by  Rev.  Mr.  Keenan  at 
Columbia  and  administering  confirmation.  Next  we 
find  him  at  Chambersbarg.  Here,  though  prostrated 
for  a  time  by  fever,  he  continued  his  work,  assisted  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Hughes,  who  hearing  of  the  Bishop's  illness 
had  hastened  to  his  relief,^  Bishop  Kenrick  felt  that 
there  was  too  much  work  before  him  to  spare  himself. 
He  returned  to  Philadelphia  to  proclaim  the  Jubilee 
in  St.  Mary's  Church  on  the  14th  of  November,  and 
labor  to  make  its  spiritual  favors  accessible  to  his 
fiock  throughout  the  diocese. 

It  was  only  then  that  he  began  to  arrange  for  his 
own  position  in  Philadelphia.  The  trustees  of  St. 
Mary's  had  already  officiously  invited  other  churches 
to  unite  with  them  in  providing  an  income  for  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Administrator  of  the  diocese.  This  intermed- 
dling in  a  delicate  matter  was  extremely  inappro- 
priate.    Bishop  Conwell  was  still  Bishop  of  Philadel- 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  30. 

«  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  87,  126,  166,  182  ;  Truth  Teller,  vi., 
p.  270  ;  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  419.  Archbishop  Whitfield  to  Cardinal  Prefect, 
Aug.  29,  1830. 


548       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

phia  and  claimed  the  provision  made  for  the  incum- 
bent before  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Egan,  and  also 
the  revenues  of  a  new  cemetery  of  which  he  held  the 
title.  After  considering  the  whole  condition  of  affairs 
Bishop  Kenrick  resolved  to  assume  the  pastoral  charge 
of  St.  Mary's  Church,  and  on  the  27th  of  December 
notified  the  trustees  of  that  church,  "  that  being  duly 
and  exclusively  invested  by  the  Ax)ostolic  See  with 
episcopal  jurisdiction  for  the  government  of  the  dio- 
cese of  Philadelphia,  he  should  himself  henceforward 
act  as  chief  jDastor  of  the  Church  of  St.  Mary's,"  and 
that  he  appointed  Rev.  Jeremiah  Keily  his  assistant. 
The  trustees  were  unwilling  to  receive  him  as  pas- 
tor ;  they  asked  him  to  reconsider  his  resolution, 
threatening  to  maintain  the  rights  of  the  congrega- 
tion. As  this  was  reviving  the  old  claim  of  a  right  to 
clioose  their  own  pastors,  Bishop  Kenrick  addressed 
a  circular  to  the  pewholders  on  the  12th  of  April, 
1831,  in  which  he  announced  that  it  would  be  his  duty, 
in  compliance  with  the  x^rinciples  of  the  Council  of 
Baltimore,  to  interdict  the  church  "unless  all  opposi- 
tion be  forthwith  withdrawn,  and  the  Catholic  princi- 
ples of  church  government  be  unequivocally  admitted," 
An  evasive  answer  followed  from  the  trustees,  and 
Bishop  Kenrick  ordered  the  cessation  of  all  sacred 
functions  in  St.  Mary's  Church  or  burial  ground  after, 
12  o'clock  on  the  16th  of  April,  unless  the  trustees 
signed  a  distinct  disclaimer  of  their  pretensions.  This 
they  explicitly  declined  to  do,  and  the  church  was 
interdicted  formally  in  a  pastoral  address. 

The  trustees  then  endeavored  to  win  Bishop  Con- 
well  to  their  side  and  opened  correspondence  with  him, 
which  led  to  his  meeting  them  at  St.  Mary's.  The 
aged  Bishop  put  forward  his  claims  as  Bishop  and 
beneficiary,  yet  he  hesitated  to  trust  himself  to  men 


END  OF  THE  SCHISM.  549 

who  were  the  cause  of  all  his  troubles.'  "A  small 
and  contemptible  faction,"  Bishop  Kenrick  wrote, 
"  by  intrigues  and  misrepresentations  has  succeeded  in 
resisting  my  pastoral  rights,  and  has  forced  me  to  have 
recourse  to  a  measure  of  severity,  to  which  no  bishop 
more  than  I  can  be  averse.  The  gates  of  St.  Mary's 
open  every  Sunday  morning  to  receive  a  few  mur- 
murers  who  amidst  the  tombs  utter  their  plaints, 
because  the  consolations  of  religion  have  been  with- 
drawn from  those  who  in  defiance  of  its  authority 
sought  to  establish  a  tribunal  of  eight  laymen  to 
approve  or  reject  at  pleasure  the  episcopal  appoint- 
ments. This  just  measure,  which  was  imperiously 
demanded,  has  humbled  and  mortified  the  party,  and 
gratified  the  great  body  of  Philadelphian  Catholics, 
who  are  sincerely  attached  to  the  doctrine  and  govern- 
ment of  the  Church.  There  has  hitherto  been  no 
excitement,  the  Catholics  worshiping  peaceably  in 
the  other  churches."  '  The  trustees  failing  to  entrap 
Bishop  Conwell,  and  destitute  of  a  leader,  soon  sub- 
mitted, and  on  the  28th  of  May  Bishop  Kenrick 
reopened  St.  Mary's  Church,  and  its  long  period  of 
schism  and  rebellion  ended. ^ 

Meanwhile  he  had  issued  a  fervent  Lenten  pastoral, 
and  preached  four  times  every  week  during  the  peni- 


'  Secretary  of  the  Propaganda  to  Archbisliop  Eccleston,  June  13, 1832, 
directed  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore  to  warn  Bishop  Conwell  not  to 
interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the  diocese.     A.  Cath.  Hist.  R.  iii.,  p.  88. 

*  Bishop  Kenrick  to  Bishop  E.  Fenwick,  same  to  Archbishop  Eccleston, 
May  17,  1831.  "  Address  of  the  Trustees  of  St.  Mary's  Church  to  the 
Congregation,  April  16, 1831."  Bishop  Kenrick,  Pastoral  Address,  April 
22,  1831.     Bishop  England's  Works,  v.,  p.  211. 

*  Charge  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick  in  the  reopening  of 
St.  Mary's  Church,  Philadelphia,  1821  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xi.. 
p.  29. 


550       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

tential  season,  thus  addressing  the  flocks  in  the  dif- 
ferent churches  in  and  near  the  city. 

Seeing  that  the  presence  of  the  Bishop  at  St.  Mary's 
gave  the  petty  board  of  trustees  an  exaggerated  idea 
of  their  own  importance,  he  resolved  to  erect  a  church 
which,  being  absolutely  free  from  any  sucli  control, 
would  be  a  secure  pro-cathedral  for  a  bishop  till  God 
in  his  providence  enabled  the  diocese  to  x^ossess  a 
cathedral  worthy  of  itself  and  of  the  Catholic  religion. 

The  task  of  rearing  such  a  church  he  committed  to 
the  energetic  priest.  Rev,  John  Hughes,  whom  he  had 
made  his  secretary,  and  whose  abilities  he  recognized. 
Several  new  churches  were  needed,  for  with  a  Catholic 
pojDulation  in  Philadelphia  of  twenty  thousand,  there 
was  sitting  room  in  the  churches  for  only  about  four 
thousand.  Rev.  Mr.  Hughes  secured  lots  on  Thir- 
teenth Street  and  had  plans  for  a  church  prepared  by 
William  Rodrigue.  He  then  called  a  meeting  of 
Catholics,  at  which  Matthew  Carey  presided,  and  laid 
before  them  his  project  of  a  church,  free  school,  and 
refuge  for  poor  girls.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  in 
May,  1831,  by  Bishop  Kenrick,  and  so  actively  was 
the  work  conducted  that  it  Avas  solemnly  dedicated  by 
Bishop  Conwell  in  April,  1832,  under  the  invocation 
of  St.  John  the  Evangelist.^ 

Bishop  Kenrick  for  a  time  thought  of  making  St. 
John's  his  pro-cathedral  and  restoring  St.  Mary's  to 
the  Society  of  Jesus,  but  the  project  was  not  approved 
at  Rome.^ 

Early  in  1832  Bishop  Kenrick  resolved,  in  compli- 

'  Pastoral  in  U.  S.  Catli.  Miscellauy,  x.,  p.  249. 

«U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  p.  310;   Trnlli  Teller,  vii.,  p.  161;  viii.,  p. 
133  ;  Hassard,  "  Life  of  Archbishop  Hughes." 
3  Cardinal  Pedicini  to  Archbishop  Whitfield,  July  30,  1831. 


SYNOD  OF  1833. 


551 


ance  with   the   recommendation   of   the   Council   of 
Baltimore,  to  convene  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  in  a 


ST.  John's  church,  Philadelphia. 

synod.  The  notification,  issued  on  the  29th  of  Feb- 
ruary, appointed  the  13th  of  May  for  the  opening  of 
the  sessions.     A  spiritual  retreat  preceded  the  delib- 


552       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

erations.  Thirty  priests  attended  ;  nine  were  absent 
from  age,  ill-health,  or  other  valid  excuses.  The 
Right  Reverend  Bishop  mentioned  that,  although 
only  priests  exercising  quasi-parochial  functions  were 
entitled,  as  of  right,  to  seats  in  the  synod,  he  would 
gladly  hear  any  priest  who  wished  to  address  him. 

The  statutes  proposed  by  him,  with  some  modifica- 
tions suggested  after  a  free  discussion,  were  promul- 
gated. When  the  question  of  the  establishment  of  a 
diocesan  seminary  was  taken  up,  the  proposal  met 
with  the  warmest  support  of  the  whole  body,  and  the 
report  of  a  committee  on  a  practical  plan  was  adopted. 

The  statutes  of  this  first  Philadelphia  synod,  which 
have  been  virtually  maintained  and  frequently  repub- 
lished, put  in  force  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Bal- 
timore. The  erection  or  enlargement  of  a  church  was 
not  to  be  begun  without  the  consent  of  the  Bishop, 
and  the  title  was  to  be  in  all  cases  in  his  name  as 
trustee  for  the  congregation.  The  penalty  of  suspen- 
sion was  enacted  against  any  priest  who  countenanced 
or  aided  trustees  in  invading  episcopal  authority. 
Regulations  were  adopted  in  regard  to  baptism  and 
confession.  No  charge  was  to  be  exacted  for  adminis- 
tering any  sacrament,  though  free-will  offerings  for 
baptisms  and  marriages  might  be  received  ;  but  it  was 
peremptorily  forbidden  to  ask  or  even  receive  any- 
thing for  confession,  enforcing  an  ancient  and  univer- 
sal rule.  The  use  of  the  Baltimore  catechism  was 
made  general  until  one  was  adopted  for  the  whole 
country  with  the  sanction  of  the  Pope,  Works  for 
circulation  among  the  faithful  were  required  to  bear 
episcopal  approbation.  Priests  were  required  to  re- 
main in  their  parochial  districts  and  not  leave  them, 
much  less  officiate  in  the  districts  of  others  without 
permission.     The  mode  of  keeping  the  Holy  Eucharist 


THE  CHOLERA.  553 

and  carrying  it  to  the  sick  was  prescribed.  Mid- 
night mass  on  Christmas  day,  from  the  danger  in- 
volved, was  forbidden.  It  was  also  prescribed  that  no 
religious  community  of  women  should  be  introduced 
into  any  district  without  the  written  consent  of  the 
Bishop.  The  last  statute  regulated  some  of  the  do- 
mestic economy  of  the  clergy.^ 

Bishop  Kenrick  thus  made  a  great  step  toward  the 
establishment  of  uniform  discipline  in  the  diocese  and 
the  cultivation  of  a  true  ecclesiastical  spirit.  But 
before  much  could  be  accomplished  toward  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  sorely  needed  diocesan  seminary,  the 
cholera  was  bearing  destruction  through  the  land. 
Bishop  Kenrick,  in  a  pastoral  letter  on  the  12th  of 
July,  exhorted  his  flock  to  endeavor,  by  prayer  and 
works  of  penance,  to  avert  the  anger  of  God  and  to 
prepare,  by  the  use  of  the  sacraments,  for  a  sudden 
death.  As  vegetables  and  fish  were  regarded  as  dan- 
gerous articles  of  food,  the  usual  abstinence  was 
suspended. - 

The  Catholic  clergy  and  Sisters  of  Charity  devoted 
themselves  to  the  care  of  the  cholera  patients.  Rev. 
Michael  Hurley  giving  the  parochial  residence  of  St, 
Augustine's  Church  for  use  as  a  hospital,  and  the  Sis- 
ters exciting  by  their  services  feelings  of  gratitude, 
which  prompted  offers  of  rich  plate,  but  unfortunately 
the  feelings  were  short-liv^d.  "If  their  exertions 
have  been  useful  to  their  suffering  fellow-beings  and 
satisfactory  to  the  public  authorities,"  wrote  the  Sis- 

'  "  Constitutiones  Diocesanae  in  Synodis  Philadelpliiensibus,  annis  1833 
et  1842,  latae  et  promulgatse."  Philadelphia,  1842  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscel- 
lany, xi.,  pp.  390,  398  ;  Truth  Teller,  viii.,  p.  205  ;  Boston  Intelligen- 
cer, iii.,  p.  279. 

''Pastoral  Letter,  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xii.,  p.  38  ;  Truth  Teller, 
viii.,  p.  246. 


554       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ters,  "they  deem  it  a  sufficient  reward,  and  indeed 
the  only  one  wliich  it  would  be  consistent  with  their 
vocation  to  receive."  ^ 

No  sooner  had  the  ravages  of  the  cholera  ceased  than 
Bishop  Kenrick  resumed  his  visits  to  the  churches 
outside  of  Philadelphia,  to  administer  confirmation 
and  examine  the  progress  of  religion.  Thence  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Elizabethtown,  Clearfield,  where  he  dedi- 
cated the  Church  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  Huntingdon, 
Williamsburg,  Newry,  Harman's  Bottom,  Waynes- 
burg,  Chambersburg,  and  Path  Valley.^ 

In  thanking  the  Leopoldine  Association  for  gener- 
ous aid  toward  the  Seminary,  Bishop  Kenrick  estima- 
ted the  Catholic  iDopulation  of  his  diocese  at  100,000, 
one-fourth  of  them  being  in  the  city  of  Pliiladeli3liia. 
He  had  only  88  priests,  29  seculars,  the  others  Jesuits, 
Augustinians,  and  Franciscans  to  attend  fifty  churches 
and  many  stations.  Several  of  the  priests  were  yield- 
ing to  the  influence  of  age  and  infirmities,  so  that  it 
was  vitally  important  to  train  up  young  levites  to 
lighten  their  labors,  and  in  time  succeed  them.^ 

Those  were  days  of  religious  controversy,  and  the 
Philadelphia  diocese  was  aroused  by  them.  The 
Rev.  John  Hughes,  who  had  been  secretary  to  Bishop 
Kenrick  and  had  erected  St.  John's  Church,  though 
busy  with  his  parochial  duties  and  the  care  of  a  school, 
which  he  soon  began,  was  drawn  into  a  controversy 


"Truth  Teller,  viii.,  pp.  254,  382.  Sisters  of  Charity  to  the  Mayor, 
Oct.  26,  1832.  Vote  of  thanks  to  Rev.  M.  Hurley,  Sept.  6,  1832. 
Catholic  Herald,  v.,  p.  397.  The  services  of  Augustinians  and  Sisters 
were  repaid  with  fire  in  1844. 

*  On  the  22d  September  he  recalled  the  dispensation  allowing  the  use  of 
flesh  meat  on  Friday  and  Saturday,  and  the  next  day  confirmed  in  Wil- 
mington.    U.  S   Cath.  Miscellany,  xii.,  pp.  142,  158,  206. 

^  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen  Stiftung,  Vienna,  1833,  v.,  p.  38  ;  vi.,  p.  25. 


REV.  JOHN  HUGHES.  555 

with  Rev.  John  Breckinridge,  a  Piesb.yterian  minis- 
ter of  no  little  reputation.  The  controversy  was  to  be 
narrowed  to  the  question  :  "Is  the  Protestant  relig- 
ion the  religion  of  Christ,"  with  a  prelindnary  discus- 
sion :  ' '  What  is  the  infallible  rule  of  faith  \ ' '  Bishop 
Kenrick,  as  well  as  many  prudent  and  learned  clergy- 
men, regretted  the  whole  affair,  but  it  gave  Rev.  Mr, 
Hughes  a  field  where  he  was  able  to  display  great 
ability  and  skill.  The  discussion  lasted  from  Janu- 
ary to  October,  and  appeared  in  The  Presbyterian 
and  a  paper  begun  by  Rev.  Mr.  Hughes,  The  Catholic 
Herald.  No  discussion  had  ever  attracted  such  gen- 
eral attention,  and  thousands  of  Protestants  became, 
for  the  first  time,  aware  of  the  strength  and  grounds 
of  the  Catholic  position  on  the  rule  of  faith.  To  this 
topic  most  of  the  arguments  were  devoted.  Rev.  Mr. 
Breckinridge  withdrawing  before  the  main  question 
was  reached.  The  discussion  was  subsequently 
printed  in  a  stout  volume,  and  reached  hosts  of 
readers.^ 

Just  as  the  controversy  ceased,  a  Presbyterian 
Synod  at  Columbia,  Pa.,  passed  a  series  of  resolutions 
assailing  the  Catholic  Church  in  no  measured  terms. 
This  drew  from  Prince  Gallitzin  a  rej^ly  entitled 
"Six   Letters   of  Advice."" 

When  the  terrible  cholera  once  more  returned 
to  Philadelphia  in  1833,  the  Board  of  Guardians 
applied  to  the  Bishop  of  Philadelphia  for  Sisters 
of  Charity  to  attend  the  patients  at  the  almshouse. 


'  Controversy  between  Rev.  Messrs.  Hughes  and  Breckinridge  on  the 
subject,  "  Is  the  Protestant  Religion  the  Religion  of  Christ  ?  "  Philadel- 
phia, 1833.  Hassard,  "  Life  of  the  Most  Rev.  John  Hughes,"  pp.  134- 
145. 

*  Catholic  Telegraph,  iii.,  p.  172. 


556       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  ST  A  TES. 

Again  did  the  spouses  of  Christ  hasten  to  face  the 
danger  from  which  others  shrank.^ 

On  the  17th  of  July,  1833,  died  Father  Charles  Bon- 
aventure  Maguire,  O.S.F.,  who,  after  escaping  the 
guillotine  at  the  commencement  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution, and  giving  the  wounded  and  dying  on  the  bat- 
tle-field of  Waterloo  all  the  consolations  of  religion, 
came  to  the  United  States  to  labor  with  zeal  and 
ability  in  Western  Pennsylvania.  After  enlarging 
the  primitive  church  on  Liberty  and  Washington 
streets,  he  begun  in  1829  a  noble  church  on  Grant's 
Hill,  Pittsburgh,  and,  master  of  several  languages, 
reached  Catholics  of  many  lands  in  his  extended  mis- 
sions. His  assistant  priest,  Rev.  Mr.  Gegan,  soon 
followed  him  to  the  grave.  ^ 

Encouraged  by  the  Bishop  Administrator,  Rev.  Mr. 
Keily,  of  St.  Mary's,  an  experienced  i3riest,  who  had 
directed  a  similar  institution  in  Washington,  opened 
an  academy  for  young  men  near  his  church,  as  did 
also  Rev.  John  Hughes  at  St.  John's.  Rev.  Mr.  Keily, 
encouraged  by  the  success  of  his  academy,  in  time 
withdrew  from  St.  Mary's,  and  attempted  to  establish 
Laurel  Hill  College  in  Penn  Township,  which  opened 
on  the  1st  of  January,  and  for  which  he  obtained  an 
act  of  incorporation  on  the  13tli  of  April,  1835.^ 

Bishop  Kenrick  had  by  this  time  taken  a  residence 

'  Correspondence,  Jesuit,  iv. ,p.  88. 

*  Catholic  Telegraph,  ii.,  p.,  311  ;  Lambing,  "  History  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  the  Dioceses  of  Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny,"  p.  43,  etc.; 
Jesuit,  iv.,  p.  128;  Catholic  Telegraph,  ii.,  p.  311  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Mis- 
cellany, xiii. ,  p.  393.  Father  Maguire  published  in  1825,  "Defense  of  the 
Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the  mystery  of  the  Real  Presence,  in 
reply  to  an  anonymous  letter  on  Unitarian  Principles,"  8vo,  p.  62. 

*  Correspondence  with  trustees,  Nov.,  1834,  N.Y.  Weekly  Register,  iii., 
p.  215.  "  The  Substance  of  the  Farewell  Sermon  delivered  at  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Philadelphia,  Nov.  9,  1834,"  Philadelphia,  1835. 


ST.  CHARLES'  SEMINARY.  557 

for  himself  and  there  opened  his  little  Theological 
Seminiuy,  while  collecting  resources  and  books  for  a 
future  edifice  and  library.  In  1835  the  Seminary 
directed  by  the  Rev.  Peter  R.  Kenrick  had  ten  semi- 
narians, seven  of  them  reading  Liebermann's  Dogmatic, 
theology.  Contributions  for  the  library  came  liber- 
ally. Very  Rev.  Dr.  Cullen,  rector  of  the  Irish  College 
at  Rome,  gave  150  volumes  of  valuable  works  ;  the 
Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide,  Bishop  Trevern  of 
Strasburg,  Rev,  John  Hughes  and  Rev.  Mr.  Foulhouze 
were  also  benefactors.^ 

Bishop  Kenrick  especially  commended  the  Seminary 
to  the  clergy  and  faithful  of  his  diocese  in  his  pastoral 
for  the  Lenten  season  of  1885,  and  instituted  a  Semi- 
nary Fund  Society  which  has  been  maintained  with 
good  results. 

An  unfinished  building  on  Eighteenth  and  Race 
streets  was  soon  obtained,  and  became  the  Semi- 
nary of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  which  was  incorporated 
April  13,  1838.2 

To  increase  the  clergy  of  the  diocese,  and  enable 
secular  j^riests  to  erect  new  churches  in  the  northern 
and  southern  districts  of  Philadelphia,  Bishop  Ken- 
rick resolved  to  restore  St.  Joseph's  Church  and  resi- 
dence to  the  Society  of  Jesus,  its  original  founders. 
At  Easter,  1833,  Y.  Rev.  Father  Kenney  and  F.  Ste- 
phen L.  Dubuisson  arrived  and   assumed   charge  of 

'  Charter  and  Reports  of  the  Philadelphia  Theological  Seminary  of 
St.  Charles  Borromeo,  dated  April  13,  1838,  Philadelphia,  1857,  pp. 
7-11  ;  U.  S.  Oath.  Miscellany,  xiii.,  p.  86.;   xiv.,  p.  186. 

*  N.  Y.  Weekly  Register,  iii.,  p.  344.  Vallette,  Brief  Sketch  of  the 
Seminary  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  in  U.  S.  Cath.  Hist.  Mag.,  i.,  p. 
21.  "  Charter  and  Report,"  Philadelphia,  1856.  Pastoral  Letters  of 
Bishop  Kenrick,  Feb.  26,  1835  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiv.,  p.  300; 
Sept.  21, 1838,  Catholic  Herald,  vi.,  p.  305. 


558       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  cliurcli,  the  parochial  residence  being  shared 
with  Bishop  Conwell  and  his  relatives.  Later  in  the 
year  Fr.  James  Ryder  arrived,  and  thus  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  resumed  the  work  begun  in  the  last  century 
.at  St.  Joseph's. 

Rev.  T.  J.  Donaghue  leaving  St.  Joseph's  began  a 
new  church,  St.  Michael's,  in  the  Northern  Liberties, 
laying  the  corner-stone  on  the  8th  of  April,  1833.  It 
was  dedicated  in  September  of  the  following  year. 
Churches  were  dedicated  also  at  Newry,  Johnstown, 
Youngstown,  Tamaqua,  and  at  Pittsburgh,  where  St. 
Paul's  Church  was  finally  opened  for  divine  service. 
Churches  were  starting  up  at  severah places  about  the 
same  time.  Father  Dubuisson  made  excursions  to 
Silver  Lake,  Friendsville,  Carbondale,  and  Honesdale 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  to  points  in  New  Jersey.^ 

In  his  visitation  of  1834  Bishop  Kenrick  encouraged 
Rev.  B.  Keenan  of  Lancaster,  who  had  just  erected  a 
church  at  Columbia.  Then  he  proceeded  to  St.  Pat- 
rick's at  Little  York;  the  Sacred  Heart,  Conewago, 
and  the  chapel  at  Paradise,  known  in  earlier  days  as 
Pigeon  Hill ;  his  next  stations  were  Gettysburg,  Cham- 
bersburg,  and  Pittsburg,  officiating,  instructing,  and 
confirming  in  all.  His  annual  visitations,  although  he 
devoted  several  months  to  them  every  year  for  three 
years  and  a  half,  had  not  enabled  Bishop  Kenrick  to 
reach  all  the  churches  or  stations  in  his  diocese. 
Accordingly,  after  discharging  the  duties  which  were 
apparent  to  all,  he  proceeded  to  search  less  frequented 

'  Woodstock  Letters,  iii.,  p.  94  ;  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  viii., 
p.  215. 

"Truth  Teller,  X.,  pp.  133,  159,311  ;  Weekly  Register,  iii.,  p.  5  ;  iv.,p. 
263  ;  ii.,  p.  104,  119  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiv.,  pp.  119,  250 ;  Jesuit, 
iv.,  p.  16;  v.,  p.  274.  "Mission  du  P.  Dubuis.son  de  la  C.  de  Jesus 
dans  le  Nordde  la  Pennsylvania,"  etc.,  Rome,  1836. 


BISHOP  KENRICK'S   WORKS.  559 

districts.  Tlius  in  1835  we  find  him,  after  confirming 
at  Newcastle  and  Wilmington,  traversing  the  State  of 
Delaware  to  discover  any  Catholic  families  who  ought 
to  be  organized  so  as  to  be  reguLarly  attended  by  the 
nearest  priest.  He  did  the  same  in  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania, stimulating  the  erection  of  a  church  and 
gathering  a  little  congregation  at  Bridgewater.  In 
Lycoming  County  he  found  several  German  Catholic 
families  who  had  not  seen  a  jjriest  for  more  than 
eighteen  years ;  but  he  sought  in  vain  at  Towanda, 
among  the  descendants  of  the  French  settlers,  any 
trace  or  memory  of  the  religion  of  their  ancestors.^ 
He  was  thus  really  a  good  shepherd  seeking  the  sheep 
that  were  lost. 

These  visitations,  of  which  he  had  just  completed 
the  fifth,  proved  to  him  that  the  diocese  was  far  too 
extensive  for  one  bishop  conscientiously  to  fulfill  all 
the  duties  of  supervision  and  detail.  Addressing  the 
Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide  he  explained  the 
immense  labor  required,  and  earnestly  urged  the  erec- 
tion of  a  see  at  Pittsburgh,  a  city  with  eight  thousand 
Catholics  and  two  churches,  St.  Paul's,  the  finest  in 
the  State.  He  was  ready  to  assume  the  organization 
of  the  new  diocese,  and  recommended  the  appoint- 
ment of  Rev.  John  Hughes  as  Administrator  of  Phila- 
delphia.^ The  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide 
yielded  to  the  views  of  Bishop  Kenrick,  but  when  the 
matter  was  laid  before  the  Pope,  canonical  objections 
raised  by  Bishop  England  prevailed,  and  the  whole 
matter  was  deferred  till  action  had  been  taken  on  it 
at  the  next  Provincial  Council.     Bishop  Kenrick  was 

1  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xv.,  pp.  61,  182  ;  Annales  de  la  Propagation 
de  la  Foi,  x.,  p.  154. 

^  Bishop  Kenrick  to  the  Propaganda,  July  25,  1835. 


560       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

accordingl}^  left  to  bear  alone,  for  nearly  ten  years 
more,  the  immense  and  daily  increasing  burden.^  It 
was,  therefore,  with  earnestness  that  in  a  circular  in 
February,  1837,  he  solicited  his  clergy  and  people  to 
unite  in  prayer  that  God  would  guide  the  approaching 
Council  in  its  work.^  When  the  Metropolitan  and  his 
suffragans  met,  there  was  a  general  wish  to  carry  out 
the  plan  of  division  proposed  by  Bishop  Kenrick.  "It 
seemed  expedient  to  the  Father  to  petition  the  Sove- 
reign Pontiff  for  the  erection  of  a  new  episcopal  see  in 
the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  to  embrace  in  its  diocese  that 
part  of  the  State  commonly  called  The  Western  Dis- 
trict of  Pennsylvania,  following  the  civil  division  rec- 
ognized in  the  laws  of  the  State."  Bishop  England 
arrived  after  the  Council  opened,  and  the  letter  of  the 
Fathers  to  the  Pope  contained  no  petition  for  a  see  at 
Pittsburgh,  though  it  solicited  the  erection  of  other 
sees  which  were  established.^ 

With  his  hopes  thus  shattered,  Bishop  Kenrick  re- 
turned to  his  diocese,  and  in  June  began  a  visitation 
extending  from  Elizabethtown  to  Milton,  which  occu- 
pied him  till  September.  During  this  apostolic  jour- 
ney he  dedicated,  on  the  29th  of  June,  a  little  church 
erected  near  Bridgewater.  He  also  visited  a  colony 
of  Alsatians  near  Meadville,  setting  up  an  altar  in  an 
unfinished  house  and  offering  the  holy  sacrifice  for 
them.  Roused  by  his  zeal  they  began  at  once  the 
erection  of  a  frame  church.*  Returning  by  way  of 
Pottsville  and  Reading,  he  reached  Philadelphia  only 

'  Bishop  Kenrick  to  Rev.  John  Hughes,  Jan.  19,  1837  ;  Bishop  Eng- 
land to  same,  Jan.  14,  1837.     Hassard,  pp.  168-171. 

•^  Notice,  Feb.  22,  1887.     Catholic  Herald,  v.,  p.  63. 

^  Concilia  Provincialia  Baltimori  habita  ab  anno  1829  usque  ad  annum 
1840.     Baltimore,  1842,  pp.  121,  133,  142. 

*  Catholic  Herald,  v.,  p.  150,  223,  253. 


BISHOP  KENRICK'S  WORKS. 


561 


to  labor  to  make  the  changes  and  meet  the  wants  of 
which  his  visitation  had  shown  him  the  necessity. 
Before  the  close  of  the  year  he  visited  the  New  Jer- 
sey portion  of  his  diocese.  His  diocesan  seminary  had 
gained  the  interest  of  his  people  ;  ^  the  Rev.  Mr.  Reilly 
had  opened  an  academy  at  Wilmington,  the  orphan  asy- 


ST.    AUGUSTINE'S   CHURCH,    PHILADELPHIA. 

lums  by  means  of  associations  were  well  maintained. 
The  promotion  of  two  of  the  priests  of  his  diocese  to 
episcopal  sees  would  deprive  him  of  zealous  clergy- 


'  Rev.  Edward  Barron,  Superior,  Feb.  21,  1838,  reported  thirteen  in 
the  seminary,  eight  having  been  ordained  the  preceding  year.  The  in- 
stitution  cost  about  $2000,  all  collected,  except  $365  from  the  Associa- 
tion for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith.  Cath.  Herald,  vi.,  p.  70.  The 
Leopoldine  Association  had  already  generously  aided. 


562       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

men  ;  God  called  to  the  reward  of  their  labors  Hev. 
Michael  Hurley,  O.S.  A.,  a  native  ajoparently  of  Phila- 
delphia, educated  in  Italy,  and  ordained  in  the  early 
years  of  tlie  century.  From  1804  he  had  labored  in  the 
mission  in  St,  Augustine's  Church,  Philadelphia,  re- 
spected for  his  learning  and  devotedness,  especially  in 
times  of  contagious  disease.  He  founded  the  mission 
church  of  St.  Denis,  Haverford,  and  made  visits  to 
many  stations  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  founding  the  Catholic  Herald  and 
contributed  ably  to  its  columns.  He  died  on  Whit- 
sunday, May  14,  1837.^ 
Bishop  Kenrick  in  his  Lenten  pastoral  commended 


SEAL  OF  BISHOP  KENRICK. 

his  seminary  and  the  orj^han  asylums  to  the  charity 
of  the  faithful,  citing  the  words  of  the  apostle,  "On 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  let  every  one  of  you  put 
apart  with  himself,  laying  up  what  it  shall  well  please 
him."  ^ 

St.  Joseph's  Church,  the  cradle  of  religion  in  Phila- 
delphia, was  at  this  time  a  "lowly  edifice,  tottering 
to  decay,"  and  early  in  1838  a  meeting  of  Catholics 
was  called  to  devise  means  for  erecting  a  more  spa- 
cious and  appropriate  church.  The  corner-stone  of  the 
new  church  was  blessed  by  Father  James  Ryder  on 

'  Westcott,  Memoir  of  the  V.  Rev.  Michael  Hurley,  O.S.  A.,  A.  Cath. 
Hist.  Record,  i.,  p.  165. 
■•'  Pastoral,  Feb.  24,  1838. 


BISHOP  KENRICK'S  WORKS.  563 

the  4th  of  June,  in  presence  of  the  venerable  Bishop 
Conwell,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Administrator  being  at  the  time 
engaged  on  his  annual  visitation,  during  which  he 
dedicated  a  church  at  Beechwood  settlement  to  St. 
Juliana  Falconieri^  St.  Basil's  in  Cherry  Township, 
and  St.  Hippolytus  near  Meadville,  and  a  church  at 
Erie,  Rev.  Nicholas  Balleis  preaching  in  German.^ 
The  churches  of  this  diocese  had  in  ten  years  risen 
from  35  to  70. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  year  1839  the  seminary 
of  St.  Charles  Borromeo  removed  from  its  confined 
limits  on  Fourth  Street  to  a  fine  building  on  Race 
Street,  fronting  Logan  Square.  Rev.  Michael  O'Con- 
nor became  Superior,  devoting  to  it  his  remarkable 
talent  as  a  guide  for  young  ecclesiastics,  his  solid 
theological  learning,  and  exhaustive  knowledge  of  the 
Fathers.  Almost  at  the  time  it  was  opened,  the  Theo- 
logia  Dogmatica,  prepared  by  Bishop  Kenrick  for  the 
press,  amid  his  cares  and  anxieties,  was  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  seminarians.  It  was  a  work  welcomed 
not  only  in  that  seminary  but  in  all  others  in  the 
country,  as  well  as  by  the  clergy.^ 

After  issuing  a  pastoral  to  excite  his  flock  to  a  spirit 
of  prayer,  mortification,  and  penance  during  Lent 
Bishop  Kenrick  made  another  visitation.  The  great 
benefit  of  these  annual  appearances  of  the  head  of  the 
diocese  were  seen  in  the  dedication  of  new  churches 
at  Norristown,  Waynesborough,  Doe  Run,  and  Potts- 
ville  and  the  erection  of  the  Church  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier  at  Fairmount.^ 

'  Proceedings  of  meeting,  Jan.  29.  Catholic  Herald,  vi. ,  p.  37, 181, 205, 
231,  268,  277  ;   Catholic  Register,  i.,  p.  124  ;  Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  p.  191. 

'  Catholic  Herald,  vii.,  p.  29. 

3  lb.,  pp.  172,  180.  260,  301,  317,  381;  Catholic  Advocate  iv.,  pp. 
148,  155. 


564       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  next  year  the  diocese  lost  two  priests  who  had 
labored  long  and  well.  The  Rev.  Patrick  Kenny  died 
at  Coffee  Run,  near  Wilmington,  in  his  79th  year,  and 
on  the  6th  of  May  Rev.  Demetrius  Augustine  Gallitzin, 
the  second  priest  ordained  in  the  United  States  by 
Bishop  Carroll,  exx)ired  at  Loretto,  Cambria  County, 
amid  the  mountain  missions  which  he  had  created  and 
loved  so  well.^ 

In  May  1840  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States  met  at 
Baltimore  in  a  fourth  provincial  council,  and  Bishop 
Kenrick  again  pleaded  for  a  division  of  the  diocese 
confided  to  him.  In  the  first  private  congregation 
action  was  taken  on  the  erection  of  a  new  see  at  Pitts- 
burgh, and  it  was  declared  "that  it  seemed  to  the 
Fathers  that  it  should  be  erected  according  to  the 
decree  of  the  last  council,"  but,  as  before,  the  letters 
to  Rome  were  silent  on  the  point  and  no  action  was 
taken. ^ 

The  ecclesiastical  learning  and  the  exquisite  latinity 
of  Bishop  Kenrick  had  already  been  recognized,  and 
the  acts  of  many  councils  were  due  to  his  pen. 

In  1840  the  Catholic  population  of  the  territory 
embraced  in  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia  was  estimated 
at  120,000,  with  about  seventy  churches,  all  frequented 
by  numbers  that  showed  increased  piety  and  fervor. 
Turbulent  opposition  to  the  discipline  of  the  Church 
had  died  away.  Bishop  Kenrick  by  a  series  of 
instructions  on  points  of  doctrine  and  piety,  delivered 
every  Sunday  afternoon  at  St.  John's,  drew  many 
hearers,  and  led  the  way  to  similar  instructions  in 
other  churches.  The  debts  on  his  seminary  and 
churches  were  the  great  obstacle  to  the  progress  of 

'  N.  Y.  Catholic  Register,  i.,  pp.  222,  278. 

'  "  Concilia  Provincialia  Baltimori  habita,"  Baltimore,  1842,  p.  162. 


REDEMPTORISTS  AT  PITTSBURGH.  565 

the  faith,  but  the  increasing  public  spirit  of  his  peo- 
ple, with  aid  from  Lyons  and  Vienna,  gave  hopes  of 
reducing  the  crushing  burden/ 

Bishop  Kenrick  began  his  visitation  in  June,  accom- 
panied by  Rev.  Mr.  O' Conner,  at  Lancaster,  thence 
taking  his  way  to  Elizabethtown,  Harrisburg,  Lewis- 
town,  with  its  poor  wooden  church  ;  Bellefonte,  with  a 
line  one  of  stone  ;  the  French  settlement,  Clearfield, 
where  he  aided  the  congregation  in  their  struggle  to 
complete  their  church  ;  St.  Nicholas  at  Red  Bank ; 
Mancolini,  St.  Hippolytus  Church  ;  Erie,  where  the 
Catholics  had  merely  a  hired  hall  but  were  earnestly 
trying  to  build  ;  Mercer,  Beaver  ;  Pittsburgh,  where  a 
German  church  was  in  hand  ;  Blairsville,  Johnstown, 
Loretto,  Harrisburg,  Reading,  Massillon,  Goshen- 
hoppen.^ 

As  the  German  Catholics  increased  at  Pittsburgh, 
they  assembled  at  St.  Patrick's  Church  until  they 
hired  a  factory  of  Jacob  Schneider.  Unfortunately, 
here  too  dissensions  arose,  and  a  series  of  priests,  after 
laboring  in  vain  to  restore  harmony  and  zeal,  succes- 
sively abandoned  the  task.  Upon  the  withdrawal  of 
the  Benedictine  Father  Nicholas  Balleis  they  were  for 
a  time  without  a  clergyman.  Bishop  Kenrick,  ascer- 
taining that  the  Redemptorists  then  in  Ohio  were 
willing  to  take  charge  of  the  mission,  in  1839  invited 
the  Superior  Father  Prost  to  do  so.  He  began  his 
work  zealously,  and  the  first  Sunday,  after  Vespers, 
exhorted  his  hearers  to  make  the  Virgin  Martyr  St. 
Philomena  their  patroness  and  to  promise  solemnly  to 


'  V.  Rev.  Peter  R.  Kenrick,  "  Relazione  dello  Stato  della  Diocesi  di 
Piladelfia." 

^  Bishop  Kenrick  to  Leopoldine  Association,  Sept.  8,  1840,  "  Berichte" 
xiv.,  p.  6. 


666       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

dedicate  the  Factory  Church  to  her,  if  she  would 
obtain  the  restoration  of  peace.  Prayer  triumphed. 
The  factory  was  purchased  for  fifteen  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  was  soon  transformed  into  the  Church  of  St. 
Philomena  and  a  Redemptorist  convent,  the  first 
house  of  the  congregation  in  the  United  States.  Here 
before  long  the  Rev.  John  N.  Neumann  received  the 
habit  and  began  his  novitiate  to  become  in  time  Bishop 
of  Philadelphia,  and  die  in  tlie  odor  of  sanctity, 
so  that  the  process  of  his  canonization  has  actually 
begun.  ^ 

On  the  14tli  of  November,  1842,  Bishop  Kenrick  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  the  Controllers  of  the  Public  Schools 
in  Philadelphia,  embodying  in  the  mildest  form  the 
conscientious  objections  of  Catholics  to  the  existing 
regulations,  by  which  Catholic  children  were  com- 
pelled to  take  part  in  reading  the  King  James  Bible, 
in  hymns  and  j)rayers  from  Protestant  sources,  and 
also  against  misrepresentation  of  Catholics  in  the 
class  books  and  Avorks  on  the  library  shelves.  "The 
school  law,"  wrote  the  Bishop,  "which  provides  'that 
the  religious  predilections  of  the  parents  shall  be 
resi^ected,'  was  evidently  framed  in  the  spirit  of  our 
Constitution,  which  holds  the  rights  of  conscience  to 
be  inviolable."  He  appealed  to  their  justice  under 
the  belief  that  his  words  would  receive  due  considera- 
tion. 

On  the  lOth  of  January  the  Board  adopted  a  reso- 
lution "that  no  children  be  required  to  attend  or 
unite  in  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  public  schools, 


'  Berger,  "  Life  of  Right  Rev.  John  N.  Neumann,  D.D.,"  New  York, 
1884,  pp.  238,  246  ;  Beck,  "  Goldenesjubilaiim  des  Wirkens  der  Redemp- 
toristenvater  in  der  St.  Philomena  Kirche,"  Pittsburg,  1889,  pp.  93-101. 
Berichte  der  Leopoldinen-Stiftung,  1842,  xv.,  p.  4. 


SEE  AT  PITTSBURGH.  567 

whose  parents  are  conscientiously  opposed  there- 
to." ' 

Bishop  Kenrick  attended  the  fiftli  Provincial  Coun- 
cil of  Baltimore  in  the  month  of  Ma^^  and  at  this 
synod  besides  the  Bishops  of  the  United  States,  Rt. 
Rev,  John  M,  Odin,  Bishop  of  Clandiopolis  and  Vicar- 
Apostolic  of  the  new  republic  of  Texas,  was  also 
present.  The  division  of  the  diocese  of  Philadelphia 
and  the  erection  of  a  see  at  Pittsburgh  were  again 
solicited  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Council.  ^  This  time 
the  effort  was  not  unsuccessful,  and  the  name  of  V. 
Rev.  Michael  O'Connor,  whom  he  had  made  his  Vicar- 
General  at  Pittsburgh,  was  sent  on  as  the  i3riest  pro- 
posed for  the  new  see.  Dr.  O'Connor  hastened  to 
Rome  to  solicit  permission  to  enter  the  Society  of 
Jesus,  but  Pope  G-regory  XVI.  said,  "You  will  be 
Bishop  first  and  Jesuit  afterwards." 

Bishop  Kenrick  saw  churches  begun  and  carried  on 
in  different  parts  of  his  diocese.  St.  Philip  Neri's 
and  St.  Patrick's  in  his  ei:>iscopal  city  ;  a  church  com- 
pleted at  Nesquehoning  and  another  begun  at  Beaver 
Meadow  by  Rev.  John  Maloney ;  new  churches  at 
Trenton,  New  Jersey  and  Du  Pout's  Mills,  Delaware. 
Societies  like  the  Dorcas  Society  were  encouraged, 
with  those  for  the  aid  of  the  orphans  and  the  support 
of  the  Seminary. 

His  leisure  was  devoted  to  the  studies  so  dear  to 
him.  Besides  his  pastorals  he  issued  a  Letter  on 
Christian  Union,  a  work  on  the  Catholic  Doctrine  of 
Justification,  elicited  by  the  Oxford  movement  in 
England,  and  his  Theologia  Moralis  for  the  use  of 

'  Catholic  Herald,  xi.,  p.  23  ;  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  ii.,  p.  125. 
'  "  Concilium  Provinciale  Baltimorense  V,  liabitum  anno  1843,"  Balti- 
more, 1844,  p.  10. 


568      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

Seminaries  in  this  country.  His  grand  work  on  The 
Primacy  of  the  Apostolic  See  was  received  with  ap- 
plause. 

The  mission  to  the  Maryland  settlement  in  Liberia, 
where  Rt,  Rev.  Edward  Barron  had  been  made  bislioj), 
was  heartily  seconded  by  Bishop  Kenrick ;  some  of 
liis  clergy  volunteered  to  serve  there,  and  collections 
were  made  to  aid  the  good  work. 

When  Rev,  Michael  O'Connor  was  sent  to  Pitts- 
burgh as  Vicar-General,  Bishop  Kenrick  induced 
the  priests  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Mission  to 
assume  the  direction  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Charles 
Borromeo,  and  in  the  summer  of  1841  four  priests  of 
that  community.  Rev.  Mariano  Mailer,  Superior,  with 
Revs.  Anthony  Penco,  M.  Frasi,  and  Thomas  Burke, 
arrived  and  entered  on  their  duties.  The  Seminary 
numbered  then  thirty  students,  more  than  half  ad- 
vancing in  their  theological  course.^ 

Before  the  close  of  the  year  the  Catholics  of  Phila- 
delphia witnessed  the  consecration  of  two  bishops, 
Rt.  Rev.  Peter  Paul  Lefevre  as  Bishop  of  Zela  and 
Coadjutor  of  Detroit,  in  St.  John's  Church,  on  the 
28th  of  November,  and  soon  after  of  Rt.  Rev.  Peter  R. 
Kenrick  as  Bishop  of  Drasa  and  Coadjutor  of  St.  Louis 
in  St.  Mary's  Church. 

The  venerable  Bishox)  Conwell  had  nearly  reached 
the  age  of  a  hundred.  For  some  years  his  sight  had 
been  entirely  lost,  and  he  could  no  longer  officiate  at 
the  altar.  He  bore  this  privation  and  all  the  ills  of  age 
with  Christian  fortitude,  retaining  his  cheerful  and 
gentle  disposition.  Bitter  feelings  had  died  away, 
and  his  declining  years  were  surrounded  with  the  ven- 

'  Bishop  Ryan  in  U.  S.  Cath.  Hist.  Mag.,  i. ,  p.  379  ;  Annual  Report 
of  the  President  of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo, 
Philadelphia,  1842. 


DEATH  OF  BISHOP  CONWELL.  569 

eration  and  respect  of  the  clergy  and  the  faithful. 
After  a  brief  illness  he  expired  on  the  morning  of 
Friday,  April  22,  1842,  prepared  for  his  last  end  with 
all  the  consolation  of  religion,  and  full  of  the  faith 
and  piety  that  characterized  him.  A  requiem  mass 
was  celebrated  in  St.  Joseph's  for  the  repose  of  his 
soul  by  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Kenrick,  with  Canon  Salz- 
bacher  as  assistant  priest.  His  body,  followed  by  seve- 
ral societies,  tlie  seminarians,  and  clergy,  was  then 
borne  to  the  cemetery  at  the  south  end  of  the  city.^ 

'  Catholic  Herald,  x. ,  p.  133  ;  N.  Y.  Freeman's  Journal. 


CHAPTER  yil. 

DIOCE^SE  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 
KT.  EEV.  FRANCIS  PATRICK  KENRICK,  THIRD  BISHOP,  1842-3. 

By  the  death  of  the  venerable  Dr.  Conwell,  the  Rt. 
Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick  became  Bishop  of  the  diocese 
which  he  had  administered  for  several  years  to  the 
advantage  of  religion.  The  obscnre  little  body  of 
Catholics,  scarcely  noticed,  had  grown  so  as  to  excite 
a  revival  of  old  prejudices  and  hatreds.  The  effort  of 
the  Catholics  in  New  York  to  recover  a  x^art  of  the 
school  fund  once  allowed  their  schools,  had  served  as 
a  pretext  for  renewing  the  violent  attacks  on  the  doc- 
trines and  practices  of  Catliolics.  Lecturers  went  from 
town  to  tow^n  and  in  a  tissue  of  misrepresentations 
excited  the  worst  passions  against  the  Church,  while 
they  sought  to  provoke  Catholics  to  violence  by  the 
violence  of  their  abuse. 

One  of  Bishop's  Kenrick' s  first  acts  was  to  proclaim 
the  Jubilee  granted  by  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  in  order 
to  obtain  from  God  by  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  a 
remedy  for  the  evils  which  overwhelmed  the  Church 
in  Spain. ^  Exercises  were  given  in  the  city  churches, 
and  gradually  throughout  the  diocese  to  enable  all 
by  jDroper  instructions  to  approach  the  sacraments 
worthily,  and,  while  obtaining  spiritual  advantages 
for  themselves,  join  their  suffrages  to  the  millions  of 
Catholics  thus  united  in  prayer.  In  May,  1842,  Bishop 
Kenriclv  convened  his  clergy  in  a  synod  at  the  Church 
of  St.    John  the   Evangelist,  after  they  had   made  a 

'  Pastoral  of  Bishop  Kenrick,  May,  1842  ;  Catholic  Herald,  x.,  p.  145. 

570 


SYNOD  OF  1842.  571 

spiritual  retreat  under  the  Very  Rev.  John  Timon. 
The  decrees  of  the  four  Councils  of  Baltimore  were 
confirmed  and  the  Ritual  prepared  under  their  direc- 
tion was  adopted.  The  abuses  of  choirs  were  cor- 
rected ;  the  limits  of  parochial  districts  were  to  be 
lixed  and  residence  required.  The  Bishop  declared 
that  the  priest  in  charge  of  a  church  or  district  should 
not  be  removed  without  grave  cause.  Rules  were 
adopted  for  the  division  of  perquisites  between  the 
priest  in  charge  and  his  assistants.  The  erection  and 
use  of  confessionals  was  strictly  enjoined.  Regula- 
tions as  to  faculties  of  priests  of  other  dioceses  were 
13rescribed,  and  also  as  to  matrimony,  proper  regis- 
ters, and  funerals.  Regular  conferences  were  to  be 
held  quarterly  at  the  Seminary  and  in  Pittsburg.  As 
no  catechism  had  yet  been  adopted  by  a  jDrovincial 
council,  he  adopted  Butler's  Catechism,  and  in  Ger- 
man that  of  Augsburg,  already  accepted  in  Cincin- 
nati, with  the  little  catechism  of  Canisius,  so  long  in 
use  in  the  German  congregations  of  Pennsylvania. 

On  the  19th  of  June  he  began  at  Doe  Run  a  visita- 
tion carried  as  far  as  Erie,  and  which  lasted  till  the 
beginning  of  September.  He  officiated  not  only  in 
churches,  but  gathered  the  faithful,  where  few,  in 
private  houses.  He  dedicated  new  churches,  encour- 
aged the  faithful  to  begin  needed  chapels,  or  replace 
primitive  and  tottering  buildings  by  more  seemly 
structures.  He  preached  in  the  court-house  at  Erie, 
vindicating  Catholics  from  the  charge  of  uncharitable- 
ness,  as  he  did  in  the  court-house  at  Brookville  on 
temperance.^ 

'  Constitiitiones  Dioccesanse  in  Sj-nodis  Philadelpliiensibus,  annis  1832 
et  1842,  latis  et  promulgatis,  Philadelphia,  1842.  Catholic  Herald,  x.,  p. 
165  ;  Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  p.  145. 

«  Catholic  Herald,  x.,  pp.  173-284. 


572       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

After  liis  return  lie  gave  new  life  to  the  organiza- 
tions for  the  support  of  the  Seminary. 

The  bulls  erecting  the  new  Diocese  of  Pittsburgh 
were  issued  on  the  7th  of  August,  1843,  and  Bishop 
O'Connor  was  consecrated  at  Rome  on  the  feast  of  the 
Assumption.  After  the  establishment  of  this  see,  the 
Diocese  of  Philadelphia  embraced  the  portion  of  the 
State  east  of  the  first  degree  west  of  Washington, 
Franklin  County  to  the  south  and  Potter  to  the  north 
being  the  limits.  It  also  included  the  State  of  Dela- 
ware and  West  Jersey.^ 

Bishop  Kenrick  could  then  devote  himself  to  the 
development  of  Catholicity  within  these  limits. 


*  Catholic  Herald,  xi.,  p.  20. 


RT.  REV.  RICHARD  VINCENT  WHELAN,  FIRST  BISHOP  OF  RICHMOND. 


■   574 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DIOCESE  OF  RICHMOND. 
ET.  REV.  RICHARD  VINCENT  WHELAN,  SECOND  BISHOP,  1841-3. 

Richard  Vincent  Whelan,  selected  to  fill  the 
long  vacant  see  of  Riclimond,  was  born  in  Baltimore, 
January  28,  1809,  In  his  tenth  year  he  entered 
Mount  St.  Mary's,  a  very  delicate  lad,  but  strength 
came  as  well  as  knowledge  at  the  Mountain.  With 
classmates  like  John  Hughes,  Thomas  R.  Butler,  John 
Gildea,  Francis  X.  Grartland,  John  McCloskey,  John 
McCaffrey  he  held  his  own,  winning  prizes  in  many 
a  contest.  He  terminated  his  course  with  honor  in 
1826,  and  after  making  two  years'  study  of  theology 
under  Rev.  S.  G.  Brute,  he  spent  four  years  more  in 
completing  his  course  at  St.  Sulpice,  Paris,  and  was 
ordained  at  Versailles  in  1831.  After  his  return  to 
Maryland  his  merit  and  abilities  induced  Archbishop 
Whitfield  to  propose  him  for  President  of  Mount  St. 
Mary's,  in  1834,  as  successor  of  Rev.  John  B.  Purcell. 
Circumstances,  however,  led  him  to  decline  the  office, 
and  Archbishop  Eccleston  assigned  him  to  the  Vir- 
ginia missions,  where  he  was  to  labor  to  death.  He 
was  stationed  at  Harper's  Ferry,  his  care  extending  to 
the  Catholics  in  Winchester,  Martinsburg,  and  Bath, 
with  occasional  visits  to  Waterford,  Shepherdtown,  and 
Romney.  He  took  up  work  in  his  large  parish  with 
spirit,  visiting  it  on  horseback  at  great  self-sacrifice 
and  risk.  He  was  soon  building  St.  John's  Church  at 
Martinsburg  at  a  cost  of  $2000,  and  as  that  progressed 
planned  one  to  be  dedicated  to  St.  Vincent  de  Paul  at 

575 


676       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Bath.  The  Jesuits  at  Georgetown  kindly  gave  paint- 
ings to  adorn  these  chapels.  In  1838  Martinsburg  had 
"  St.  Vincent's  Female  Benevolent  School,"  under  the 
Sisters  of  Charity,  attracting  many  pupils  by  its  com- 
modious building  and  beautiful  site,  and  excellent 
instruction  there  given.  As  labor  increased  he  ob- 
tained an  assistant  and  took  up  residence  at  Martins- 
burg, where  mass  was  said  every  Sunday,  twice  a 
month  at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  once  at  Winchester  and 
Waterford.  He  displayed  not  only  energy,  bat  econ- 
omy and  prudence.  He  effected  all  without  incurring 
debt,  and  actually  laying  up  a  little  fund  which  he 
offered  to  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.^ 

Such  was  the  active  missionary  priest  selected  to 
govern  the  diocese  of  Richmond.  When  the  subject 
was  first  broached  to  him  he  treated  it  as  a  joke,^  but 
the  bulls  came,  and  he  was  required  to  accept  the 
burden.  He  was  consecrated  on  the  21st  of  March, 
1841,  in  the  Cathedral  of  his  native  city,  Baltimore, 
by  Archbishop  Eccleston. 

In  a  pastoral  addressed  to  his  flock  from  Baltimore 
he  sought  their  prayers  to  aid  him  in  his  great  work  ; 
he  suggested  the  necessity  of  definite  plans  to  secure 
more  laborers  in  the  vineyard.  "  Why  is  the  solemn 
chant  of  the  ancient  liturgy  heard  far  beyond  the 
Alleghanies?  Why  are  the  prairies  of  the  distant 
West  dotted  with  Catholic  temples,  while  in  Virginia 
the  very  name  is  scarcely  known,  or  known  but  to  be 
abused  ?  It  may  be  that  we  have  not  sufficiently 
appreciated  the  value  of  religious  truth  ;  that  we  have 
neither  availed  ourselves  of  such  means  as  were  within 


'  Early  Virginia  Sketches,  by  the  venerable  H.  F.  Parke,  in  Catholic 
Mirror  and  letters. 

"  Letter  to  Rev.  N.  Zocchi,  June  17,  1837. 


ST.   VINCENT'S  SEMINARY.  577 

our  reach,  nor  lifted  our  voices  in  humble  supplication 
to  Him  who  has  promised  to  grant  what  is  sought  in 
sincerity  and  with  perseverance."' 

Making  Richmond  his  residence,  St.  Peter's  Church, 
on  a  wide  street  leading  from  Capitol  Square,  be- 
came his  pro-cathedral.  He  attended  the  liock  there 
with  Rev.  Timothy  O'Brien,  and  from  it  he  made 
regular  visits  to  Lynchburg  and  Petersburg.  Rev. 
J.  O'Brien  succeeded  him  at  Martinsburg.  Rev.  A. 
Hitselberger  was  soon  erecting  a  new  church  at  Nor- 
folk. Portsmouth  had  its  church  and  priest,  and 
Rev.  J.  Hoerner  was  stationed  at  St.  Mary's,  Wheel- 
ing. The  scattered  Catholic  population  did  not  in  his 
estimation  exceed  six  thousand.  The  Bishop's  first 
great  object  was  a  seminary ;  he  purchased  a  farm, 
and  the  house  on  it  became  the  Seminary  and  College 
of  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  in  which  he  soon  had  thirteen 
students.  This  little  institution,  though  he  was  not 
able  to  maintain  it  long,  gave  Virginia  several  good 
priests.  Revs.  Edward  Fox,  Francis  Devlin,  Austin 
Grogan,  Charles  Farrell.'^ 

During  his  first  year  Bishop  Whelan  crossed  the 
mountains  to  visit  Wheeling,  the  only  place  in  West- 
ern Virginia  blessed  with  a  Catholic  church,  attended 
by  Rev.  James  Hoerner.  Here  he  preached,  instructed, 
and  confirmed.  The  other  Catholics  west  of  the 
mountains  in  Marion,  Preston,  and  Hampshire  coun- 
ties depended  on  the  charity  of  priests  at  Pittsburg 
or  Cumberland  ;  those  further  south  appealing  in 
need  to  Cincinnati,  and  more  than  once  Bishop  Pur- 
cell  attended  the  sick  and  dying  in  the  valley  of  the 
great  Kanawha. 

1  Pastoral  Letter,  March  22, 1841,  N.  Y.  Freeman's  Journal,  i.,  p.  326. 
U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.,  p.  610. 
"U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  ii.,  p.  61. 


578       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

A  handsome  building  was  soon  erected  at  Rich- 
mond for  St.  Joseph's  Female  Academy  under  five 
Sisters  of  Charity,  and  here  as  well  as  at  Martinsburg 
and  Norfolk  the  Sisters  besides  their  school  took  care 
of  orphans. 

On  the  23d  of  January,  1842,  Bishop  Whelan  dedi- 
cated St.  Joseph's  Church  at  Petersburg,  and  on  the 
10th  of  July,  St.  Patriclv's  Church,  Norfolk.  The 
next  month  he  visited  Wytheville,  Avhere  he  baptized 
several  converts,  and  where  Shei-iff  Matthews  gave 
land  for  a  church  and  a  contribution  in  money.  He 
fixed  on  Summerville  as  a  spot  for  a  priest  to  attend 
the  Kanawha  region,  and  Kingwood  as  a  center  for 
the  northwest.  Rev.  Mr.  Moriarty  of  Portsmouth 
said  mass  for  the  soldiers  at  Old  Point  Comfort. 

The  next  year  the  energetic  Rev.  Daniel  Downey 
reared  a  brick  church  at  Lynchburg,  and  in  his 
laborious  Journeys  visited  a  large  district.  He  found 
but  one  or  two  families  at  Staunton,  but  in  a  few 
years  had  such  a  spirited  congregation  that  they 
erected  a  church  near  which  he  took  up  his  residence. 

Bishop  Whelan  set  an  example  to  all  his  clergj^ 
laboring  as  earnestly  in  the  ministry  as  when  first 
sent  to  Harper's  Ferry.  In  1843  he  succeeded  in 
inducing  the  Redemptorists  to  rouse  the  faith  of  the 
German  Catholics  near  Wheeling  and  hoped  soon  to 
gather  them  in  a  church  of  their  own.^ 

The  Rev.   Mr.   Moriarty  stationed   at   Portsmouth 

'Parke,  "  Some  Notes  on  the  Rise  and  Spread  of  the  Catholic  3Iis- 
sions  in  Virginia";  articles  in  the  Catholic  Mirror;  Keiley,  "  Memoranda 
of  the  History  of  the  Catholic  Church,  Richmond,  Va.,"  Norfolk,  1874  ; 
Catholic  Herald,  x.,  pp.  244,  252,  269;  Peyton,  "  History  of  Augusta 
County,"  Staunton,  1882,  p.  90.  "  Berichte  der  Leopoldincn-Stiftung," 
xvii.,  p.  16.  The  church  at  Norfolk  received  from  Louis  Philippe, 
King  of  the  French,  a  fine  copy  of  Murillo's  Assumption,  and  from  Dr. 
Higgins  a  large  crucifix  of  great  artistic  value. 


CATHOLICS  IN  THE  ARMY.  579 

numbered  among  his  flock  not  only  the  Catholics  at 
the  navy  yard  there,  but  also  the  officers  and  soldiers 
of  the  ancient  faith  stationed  at  Fortress  Monroe. 
In  his  district  about  this  time  a  case  occurred  involv- 
ing the  liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  of  worship 
guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
Lieutenant  John  O'Brien  Avas  ordered  to  march  a  cer- 
tain number  of  regular  soldiers  to  a  Protestant  church 
on  Sunday.  Conceiving  the  order  to  be  unconstitu- 
tional, he  determined  to  obey  it  only  so  far  as  to  march 
the  men  to  the  door  of  the  church,  leaving  to  the 
choice  of  each  man  whether  to  take  part  in  the  ser- 
vices or  not.  On  his  return  he  was  deprived  of  his 
sword,  and  placed  under  arrest.  When  it  was  j^ro- 
posed  to  bring  him  before  a  court  martial,  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  case  were  evident.  Lieutenant  O'Brien 
was  known  to  be  an  able  military  lawyer  and  a 
thorough  officer,  and  his  defense  would  be  a  powerful 
one.  The  case  would  come  up  free  from  any  suspicion 
of  rival  religious  feelings  as  the  commandant  Col.  de 
Barth  de  Walbach,  like  O'Brien,  was  a  Catholic.  The 
War  Department  did  not  allow  the  case  to  proceed. 
Lieutenant  O'Brien's  sword  was  restored.  In  a  stan- 
dard work,  which  he  published  a  few  years  afterwards, 
"A  Treatise  on  American  Military  Law,'-^  Lieuten- 
ant O'Brien  treated  at  length  the  question  of  compul- 
sory attendance  on  divine  service. 

'  Philadelphia,  1846,  ch.  viii.,  pp.  57-66.     U.S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii., 
p.  473. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DIOCESE  OF  CHARLESTON. 

IIT.  REV.    JOHN    ENGLAND,  FIRST    BISHOP,  1829-1842;    RT.    REV. 
WILLIAM    CLANCY,    BISHOP    OF    ORIEN    AND    COAD- 
JUTOR, 1834-1837. 

Impressed  with  the  want  of  a  religious  community 
of  women  for  the  work  of  education  and  cliarity  in 
his  diocese,  Bishop  England  joyfully  welcomed  the 
proposal  of  three  ladies  in  Baltimore,  who  offered  their 
services  for  his  diocese,  being  like  himself  natives  of 
Cork.  They  were  Misses  Mary  and  Honora  O' Gor- 
man, and  Teresa  Barry.  Dr.  England  formed  them 
into  a  religious  community,  giving  them  the  rule  of 
St.  Vincent  de  Paul.  These  first  Sisters  took  their 
vows  on  the  8tli  of  December,  1830,  adopting  the  name 
of  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy.  Sister  Mary  Joseph 
O' Gorman  was  the  first  Superior.  The  little  com- 
munity began  its  labors  in  a  small  house  on  Baufain 
Street,  Charleston.  An  elderly  maiden  lady,  Miss 
Julia  Datty,  a  native  of  St.  Domingo,  after  aiding 
them,  was  received  into  the  order  on  account  of  her 
great  piety  and  ability.  She  died  of  cliolera,  October 
3,  1836,  while  Superior  of  the  sisterhood.  Under 
God's  blessing  this  order  prospered  and  in  time  estab- 
lished houses  at  Savannah,  Wilmington,  and  Sumter. 
"The  object  of  their  institution,"  wa-ote  Bishop 
England,  "  is  to  educate  females  of  the  middling  classes 
of  society  ;  also  to  have  a  school  for  free  colored  girls, 
and  to  give  religious  instruction  to  female  slaves  ; 
they  will  also  devote  themselves  to  the  service  of  the 
sick."     Visits  to  almshouses  and  prisons  were  also 

580 


SISTERS  OF  OUR  LADY  OF  MERCY.  581 

included  in  their  work.  The  Bishop  could  declare 
publicly,  in  1833,  that  the  Sisterhood  had  met  his 
most  sanguine  expectations,  and  he  alluded  to  their 
generous  offer  to  give  their  services  during  the  cholera 
in  any  way  the  board  of  health  might  direct.^ 

During  the  year  1830,  Dr.  England  took  part  in  the 
consecration  of  Bishop  Kenrick  at  Bardstown  and 
visited  New  Orleans  and  Cincinnati.  He  was  thus 
able  to  confer  with  several  of  the  newly  consecrated 
members  of  the  hierarchy.  On  his  return  he  set  to 
work  to  extend  his  cathedral,  a  rough,  low  frame  build- 
ing, originally  thrown  up  merely  as  a  temporary  accom- 
modation on  the  rear  of  the  lot  he  had  purchased  as  a 
site  for  a  proposed  structure.  He  had  never  been 
able,  however,  to  take  any  steps  toward  erecting  a 
cathedral  and  there  was  little  promise  for  the  future. 
Bishop  England  accordingly  extended  the  sanctuary 
and  finished  his  temporary  church  in  Gothic  style  with 
decorations  to  make  it  less  unworthy  of  the  holy 
sacrifice. 

During  his  visitations  in  December  he  dedicated 
St.  Peter's  Church,  at  Columbia,  and  subsequently 
preached  in  the  State  House  to  a  large  audience. 
Without  resources  to  erect  churches  or  institutions 
he  labored  to  keep  the  faith  alive  by  conventions  and 
frequent  visitations.  Not  only  could  he  make  little 
progress,  but  he  met  with  severe  losses.  In  a  confla- 
gration which  laid  most  of  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  in 
ashes.  May  29,  1831,  the  Catholic  church  was  entirely 

'  Bishop  England,  "  A  Brief  Account  of  the  Introduction  of  the  Catho- 
lic Religion  into  the  States  of  N.  Carolina,  S.  Carolina,  and  Georgia," 
Dublin,  1832,  p.  45;  O'Connell,  "Catholicity  in  the  Carolinas  and 
Georgia,"  New  York,  1879,  pp.  64-5  ;  Metropolitan,  Baltimore,  1858, 
p.  493,  etc. ;  Bishop  England's  Works,  iv.,  pp.  335,  340,  361  ;  Letters  of 
Mother  Mary  Teresa  Barry. 


582       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

destroyed.  The  Rev.  John  Magennis  soon  set  to  work 
to  rebuild  St.  Patrick's,  and  collections  were  taken  up 
throughout  the  diocese  to  aid  him.  Catholics  in  Balti- 
more and  Philadelphia  also  sent  aid,  Charles  Carroll, 
of  Carroll  ton,  heading  the  Maryland  list. 

In  his  visitations  Bishop  England  was  received  with 
courtesy  by  the  Protestants  and  often  invited  to 
preach.  No  unjDleasant  consequences  followed  except 
on  a  single  occasion  at  Sparta,  in  April,  1831,  when,  at 
the  close  of  a  sermon  delivered  by  him  in  a  Methodist 
church,  Rev.  Dr.  Beman  of  Troy,  a  Presbyterian,  rose 
and  announced  that  he  would  on  a  given  day  reply  to 
Bishop  England.  His  discourse,  however,  so  offended 
the  Protestant  audience  that  he  was  hooted  from  the 
church.  Catholics  had  no  i^art  in  the  matter,  as  there 
were  only  four  Catholic  families  in  the  whole  county.^ 

Bishop  England  was  encouraged  by  a  letter  from 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  Gregory  XVI.  "It  gives  us 
great  concern,"  said  the  Pope,  "that  so  small  a 
number  of  laborers,  as  you  inform  us,  are  to  be  found 
in  so  large  a  harvest,  and  the  more  on  this  account, 
that  the  difficulty  of  the  times  makes  it  impracticable 
for  us  to  relieve  that  necessity.  But  we  have  this 
consolation,  that  so  able  a  pastor  as  you  are,  who  can 
supply  the  place  of  many,  has  been  by  Divine  Provi- 
dence api^ointed  to  the  charge  of  that  flock  ;  and, 
relying  on  the  Prince  of  Pastors,  we  hope  that  he  will 
send  laborers  into  his  harvest.  Your  statement  is 
also  a  consolation  to  us,  that  a  more  bright  prospect 
presents  itself  to  you,  by  reason  of  the  trustees  having 
been  impressed  with  a  correct  sense  of  their  duties, 
and  that  you  enjoy  peace  and  harmony,  by  the  assis- 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  pp.  158-398  ;  xi.,  pp.  16-270  ;  Bishop 
England's  Works,  iv.,  p.  252. 


'iyR.iudsiLsni^H.X. 


IJAlu    i  -   ■-> ' 


^^:r^2^m:MM. 


-v^^^ 


IN  EUROPE.  583 

tance  of  God,  as  the  consequence  of  your  patience  and 
perseverance."  ^ 

On  the  21st  of  November,  1831,  the  Feast  of  the 
Presentation  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  Bishop  England 
opened  a  synod  of  the  clergy.  The  condition  of  his 
diocesan  seminary  was  a  cause  of  great  anxiety.  The 
debt  of  it,  although  relieved  in  part  by  the  generous 
aid  from  France,  w^as  still  so  oppressive  that  he  could 
not  maintain  suitable  professors,  and  the  labor  of 
teaching  the.  classes  of  philosophy  and  theology  con- 
sequently devolved  on  the  Bishop  himself. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Catholics  in  Charleston,  held 
on  the  3d  of  July,  1832,  Bishop  England  explained 
at  length  the  serious  difficulties  which  impeded  the 
establishment  of  the  institutions  of  the  diocese,  and 
announced  his  intention  of  going  to  Europe  in  the 
hope  of  obtaining  aid  to  overcome  them.  An  address 
from  his  flock  showed  how  deeply  they  appreciated 
his  earnest  labors  and  their  gratitude  for  all  the 
advantages  they  had  derived  from  them.  He  had 
become  identified  with  the  States  embraced  in  his 
diocese,  and  strongly  attached  to  the  people.  He 
had  revived  a  taste  for  classical  studies,  was  an 
active  member  of  the  Philosophical  Literary  Associa- 
tion, and  was  prompt  to  join  in  any  good  work.  Yet 
he  was  no  blind  admirer,  unable  to  see  faults.  In  the 
days  of  Nullification  he  spoke  Avith  calm  wisdom,  and 
on  several  occasions  his  eloquent  voice  was  raised  to 
prevent  the  practice  of  dueling.  Encouraged  by  the 
marks  of  the  general  esteem  he  had  acquired,  Bishop 
England  sailed  for  Liverpool,  in  the  ship  Belvidere, 
July  10,  1832.     After  a  warm  welcome   in   Ireland, 


'  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  to  Bishop  England,  Aug.  2,  1831.     U.  S.  Cath. 
Miscellany,  xi.,  p.  166. 


684      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

especially  at  Carlo w  College,  he  proceeded  to  Rome 
and  Vienna.^ 

He  had  followed  one  sister,  Joanna,  to  the  grave  in 
Charleston,  after  her  years  of  unselfish  devotion  to 
him  and  his  diocese  ;  he  had  scarcely  reached  Ireland 
before  death  deprived  him  of  another,  Mrs.  Michael 
Joseph  Barry. 

At  Rome  he  presented  to  the  Cardinal  Prefect  a 
report  on  his  diocese,  and  explained  the  object  of  his 
visit  to  Europe.  The  schismatic  course  of  O'Galla- 
gher,  and  the  laws  of  incor];)oration  incompatible  Avitli 
Catholic  discipline,  had  created  a  condition  of  affairs 
not  easily  remedied.  He  found  it  imjjossible  to  ex- 
pect from  legislatures  any  amendment  of  the  laws, 
and  had  prepared  constitutions  which,  accepted  by 
the  congregations,  settled  many  points,  and  would  be 
recognized  in  courts  of  law.  He  had  from  time  to  time 
amended  these,  and  earnestly  desired  from  the  Con- 
gregation de  Propaganda  Fide  instructions  as  to  any 
points  that  were  at  variance  with  Catholic  discipline. 
He  explained  also  his  want  of  priesfs  and  stated 
that  one  object  of  his  visit  was,  if  possible,  to  secure 
active  and  pious  clergymen.  His  flock  were  poor,  so 
poor  that  not  a  few  Catholics,  ashamed  of  their  fellow 
believers,  attended  Protestant  churches.  Some  of 
these  he  had  regained,  and  in  the  last  twelve  years 
between  five  and  six  hundred  Protestants  had  been 
received  into  the  Church.  He  estimated  the  Catholics 
lost  to  the  faith,  and  their  descendants,  at  four  times 
his  actual  flock.  His  little  seminary  had  given  eleven 
priests  actually  on  the  mission  in  his  diocese,  and  he 
had  six  preparing  for  holy  orders.     Vocations  could 

'Bishop  England's  Works,  iv.,  pp.  333,  336,339  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscel- 
lany, xii.,  pp.  6,  14,  159. 


AID  FOR  THE  DIOCESE.  585 

not  be  expected  yet  in  his  diocese,  but  in  Ireland  lie 
had  induced  some  of  the  bishops  to  send  to  him 
young  men  who  desired  to  become  priests.  He  had, 
however,  little  or  no  means  to  support  and  educate 
them.  A  colony  of  Ursuline  nuns  to  open  a  young 
ladies'  academy,  he  also  sought,  and  had  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  promise  of  some  religious  from  the  Ursu- 
line Convent  at  Blackrock,  Cork.  The  Leopold  Asso- 
ciation in  Vienna  had  made  him  an  allowance  which 
w-ould  cover  their  passage  to  Charleston,  and  pay  in 
part  the  purchase-money  of  a  house  he  had  secured 
for  the  purpose.  He  gave  an  account  of  the  Sister- 
hood he  had  established  and  his  hope  of  obtaining 

SIGNATUKE   OF   BISHOP   ENGLAND,    OF   CHARLESTON. 

members  for  it,  so  that  they  might  open  an  orphan 
asylum.  He  hoped  also  to  establish  or  obtain  a  com- 
munity of  teaching  Brothers. 

His  congregations  were  the  poorest  in  the  whole 
country,  but  he  had  been  the  lirst  to  establish  a 
Catholic  newspaper,  which  in  spite  of  all  difficulties  he 
had  carried  on  to  its  eleventh  volume,  regarding  it  as 
absolutely  necessary.  He  needed  books  especially  for 
a  seminary  library,  the  Fathers,  Councils  of  the  Church, 
ecclesiastical  history.  Lives  of  the  Popes,  theologies, 
and  works  necessary  to  meet  constant  attacks  on  the 
Church.  He  appealed,  therefore,  to  the  Congregation 
de  Propaganda  Fide  for  aid,  resigned,  however,  to  la- 
bor on  as  he  had  done,  if  it  could  not  be  given.  If  it 
could  be  afforded,  he  beheld  a  new  and  long  career  of 
usefulness  opened  before  him  as  long  as  God  spared 
his  life,  to  the  advantage  of  many  souls. 


586       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

In  an  account  of  the  condition  of  the  Church  in  the 
United  States,  which  he  presented  to  the  Leopold 
Association,  he  estimated  the  Catholics  in  Charleston 
at  five  out  of  forty  thousand  inhabitants,  one  fourth 
of  the  number  being  slaves.  In  his  whole  diocese  he 
estimated  the  Catholics  at  eleven  thousand  in  a  popu- 
lation of  1,836,432.  Of  these  seventy-five  hundred 
were  in  South  Carolina,  three  thousand  in  Georgia, 
and  five  hundred  in  North  Carolina.^  The  earnest 
labors  of  Bishop  England  had  accomplished  only  this 
in  thirteen  years.  The  priests  and  laymen  who  had 
made  such  lavish  promises  of  maintaining  a  bishop 
and  aiding  his  Christian  work  had  proved  not  onJy 
useless  but  detrimental  to  the  progress  of  the  Church. 

Bishop  England  reached  New  York  in  the  ship 
Niagara,  and  was  welcomed  in  Charleston  on  the  4th  of 
October,  1833.  He  returned  encouraged.  Lyons  and 
Vienna  had  given  him  assistance.  The  Sovereign 
Pontiff  and  the  Propaganda  became  his  benefactors. 
Lord  Clifford  and  others  helped  him  to  acquire  church 
plate  and  needed  books.  He  brought,  too,  the  assur- 
ance that  the  Ursuline  nuns  would  before  long  estab- 
lish a  community  in  Charleston.  Bishop  England  was 
not  permitted,  at  once,  to  devote  himself  to  the  affairs 
of  his  diocese.  The  Council'  about  to  convene  at 
Baltimore  required  his  presence.  On  his  way  he  was 
rejoiced  to  be  able  to  offer  the  holy  sacrifice  in  St. 
Patrick's  Church,  Fayetteville,  which  had  risen  from 
the  ashes.  His  sermon  at  the  opening  of  the  Council 
on  the  subject  and  utility  of  such  assemblies  attracted 
general  attention.  He  was  soon  called  upon  while 
there  to  refute  Willis's  misrepresentation  of  a  lecture 


'  Bishop  England,  Report  to  Propaganda,  1833  ;  Bericlite  der  Leopol- 
dinen  Stiftung,  1833,  vi.,  pp.  33-37.     Annales  de  la  Prop.,  vi.,  p.  211. 


SENT  TO  HAYTL  687 

delivered  by  him  at  the  house  of  Cardinal  Weld  in 
Rome,  on  the  ceremonies  of  Holy  Week.  It  was  a 
rude  return  for  Bishop  England's  courtesy  in  obtain- 
ing for  him  an  audience  with  the  Pope. 

After  his  return  to  the  diocese  he  began  his  usual 
visitations,  dedicating,  November  29,  the  Church  of 
St.  Andrew,  a  small  frame  structure  at  Barnwell. 
The  next  month  he  tonsured  James  A.  Corcoran,  of 
Charleston,  and  Patrick  N.  Lynch,  of  Cheraw,  two 
talented  young  men  who  soon  proceeded  to  Rome  to 
enter  the  College  of  the  Propaganda.  His  diocese  w^as 
to  be  deprived  again,  for  a  time,  of  his  services.  In  the 
Island  of  St.  Domingo  had  grown  up  the  negro  State 
of  Hayti,  vacillating  in  government  from  republic  to 
empire,  with  religion  almost  extinct.  The  Holy  See 
appointed  Bishop  England  Apostolic  Delegate  to  visit 
that  country  and  arrange  with  the  government  for  an 
organization  of  the  Church,  which  would  revive  relig- 
ion and  morality.  Bishop  England  sailed  December 
18,  18B3,  for  the  island,  where  an  archbishop  once  pre- 
sided with  metropolitan  jurisdiction  over  the  West  In- 
dies and  our  southern  coast.  He  had  been  requested 
to  visit  that  island  and  report  its  religious  condition 
to  the  Holy  See,  with  his  advice  as  to  the  best  policy 
to  be  pursued.  He  found  about  seventy  X)riests  in 
Hayti,  governed  by  vicars  appointed  by  the  last  arch- 
bishop. He  presented  to  the  President  the  brief  of 
Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  and  was  assured  by  him  of  his 
veneration  for  the  head  of  the  Catholic  Church.  After 
visiting  Guadaloupe  and  St.  Thomas,  Bishop  England 
returned  to  his  diocese.^  In  April,  1834,  Bishop  Eng- 
land set  out  again  for  Rome  to  give  an  account  of  his 
Haytian  mission,  and  reached  that  city  in  May.     The 

iJSr.  Y.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiii.,  pp.  110-14,  198-310,  318. 


588       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Sovereign  Pontiff  was  so  well  satisfied  with  the  results 
of  Bishop  England's  labors  that  he  reappointed  him 
Apostolic  Delegate,  with  more  ample  powers  to  make 
definite  arrangements  between  the  Holy  See  and  the 
President  of  Hayti  for  the  proper  organization  of  the 
Church.  As  this  would  entail  still  further  absence 
from  his  diocese,  Bishop  England  solicited  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  Coadjutor.  Among  the  names  proposed  by 
him  was  Rev.  Dr.  Cullen,  then  Superior  of  the  Irish 
College.  Failing  to  obtain  the  future  cardinal,  he 
proposed  Rev.  AVilliam  Clancy,  a  native  of  Cork,  and 
professor  of  theology  in  Carlo w  College,  who  was 
accordingly  appointed.  Meanwhile,  Bishop  England 
returned  to  Ireland  and  completed  the  arrangements 
for  his  Ursuline  Convent.  The  colony,  consisting  of 
Mother  Mary  Charles  Molony,  Sisters  Marie  Borgia 
McCarthy  and  Antonia  Hughes,  and  a  j^stulant.  Miss 
H.  Woulfe,  left  their  convent  on  the  27th  of  Septem- 
ber, and,  embarking  at  Liverpool  with  Bishop  Eng- 
land, reached  Philadelphia,  and  were  in  Charleston  on 
the  10th  of  December.  A  house  adjoining  the  Cathe- 
dral on  Broad  Street  had  been  prepared  for  their 
reception,  and  here  the  Ursuline  Convent  was  estab- 
lished.^ 

Bishop  England  then  resumed  his  missionary  visita- 
tions, held  conventions,  and  labored  as  of  old.  His 
Coadjutor,  Dr.  Clancy,  was  consecrated  Bishop  of 
Orien  on  the  21st  of  December,  1834,  in  the  Cathe- 
dral of  Carlow,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  Edward  Nolan,  Bishop 

'  Bishop  England,  "A  Brief  Memoir  of  Mother  Mary  Charles  Molony," 
1839;  Works,  iii.,  p.  263,  etc.  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiv.,  p.  190; 
Weekly  Register,  iii.,  p.  116;  Catholic  Diary,  v.,  p.  120,  134;  O'Con- 
nell,  "  Catholicity  in  the  Carolinas  and  Georgia,"  p.  68.  A  community 
of  Ladies,  ' '  Dames  de  la  Retraite,"  under  Mme.  Hery,  came  to  his  diocese 
and  remained  for  a  time,  but  he  could  not  depend  on  their  remaining. 


BISHOP  CLANCY.  .^89 

of  Kildare  and  Leiglilin,  Bishop  Slattery,  of  Cashel, 
and  Bishop  Kinsella,  of  Kilkenny,  being  assistants. 
Dr.  England  hoped  to  benefit  at  once  by  his  co-opera- 
tion in  the  labors  of  tlie  diocese,  but  Bishop  Clancy 
lingered  in  Ireland,  and  did  not  arrive  in  Charleston 
till  November,  1835.  He  was  welcomed  by  Bishop 
England,  as  well  as  by  the  convention  of  the  diocese, 
then  in  session.  The  hopes  entertained  by  Bishop 
England  were  never  fulfilled.  His  Coadjutor  came 
a  stranger  to  the  country,  and  showed  no  inclination 
to  become  American  in  feeling  or  sympathy.  He 
was  moreover  imprudently  fond  of  censuring  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  country.  His  temper  was  difficult,  and 
in  less  than  a  year  after  his  arrival  in  the  United 
States  he  solicited  his  transfer  to  some  other  field  of 
labor. 

During  the  spring  of  1836  Bishop  Clancy  relieved 
Dr.  England  by  making  visitations,  which  lasted  sev- 
eral months.^  He  also  directed  the  Seminary,  being 
fully  qualified,  by  experience,  to  train  candidates  for 
the  iDriesthood. 

Bishop  England  wrote  to  Bishop  Brute,  "I  am 
here  endeavoring  to  put  in  order  my  churches,  my 
seminary,  my  convent,  my  Sisters  of  Mercy,  and  also 
try  whether  Madame  Hery  can  be  aided  to  establish 
her  house.  My  two  churches  want  great  repairs,  my 
seminary  is  in  debt,  my  convent  struggling  into  exis- 
tence, my  missions  wretchedly  poor,  and  in  want  of 
something  like  churches Add  to  this  my  unfit- 
ness for  the  Haytian  legation,  from  inability  to  speak 
the  language,  or  to  write  it  even  tolerably,  and  the 
order  of  his  Holiness,  which  I  cannot  disobey,  that  I 
must  try  what   can   be   done   in  this  ruined   island, 

>U.  S.  Catb.  Miscellany,  xiv.,  pp.  262;  xv.,  pp.  174,  326;  Catholic 
Diary,  v.,  pp.  120,  134. 


590       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

whilst  all  tilings  here  are  left  unsettled  to  a  new  hand, 
Dr.  Clancy,  you  may  figure  to  yourself  my  situation."^ 

Relieved  by  the  presence  of  his  Coadjutor  at  Charles- 
ton, Bishop  England  i:>roceeded  once  more  to  Port-au- 
Prince  in  Hayti,  and  accomplishing  the  delicate  and 
important  mission  with  which  he  was  charged,  returned 
to  Charleston,  and  after  a  few  days'  preparation 
hastened  to  New  York,  in  order  to  embark  on  the 
packet  ship  United  States  for  Europe.  The  Haytian 
affairs  required  his  i)resence  in  Rome,  and  he  was 
anxious  to  carry  out  in  France  and  Ireland  plans  for 
the  good  of  his  diocese.^ 

Bishop  England  had  scarcely  returned  to  his  ac- 
customed duties  in  his  bishopric  when  the  authorities 
in  Rome  directed  him  to  repair  once  more  to  Hayti,  as 
the  negotiations  had  assumed  a  most  critical  character, 
involving  the  future  of  Catholicity  in  the  island.  His 
entreaties  and  remonstrances  were  unavailing,  and 
although  he  almost  despaired  of  success  he  prepared 
to  set  out,  hoping  to  return  in  time  to  take  part  in  the 
deliberations  of  the  Provincial  Council,  which  was 
to  meet  at  Baltimore  in  April. ^  He  was,  however, 
prevented  by  illness  from  proceeding  in  person  to  the 
Haytian  republic,  so  that  Bishop  Clancy  undertook 
the  mission,  and  executed  it  in  a  manner  that  elicited 
Bishop  England's  tlianks.  He  attended  the  Council 
with  Bishop  Clancy,  arriving  in  time  to  be  present  at 
the  first  private  session.  Though  thus  taking  part  in  the 
deliberations,  Bishop  Clancy  had  already  been  trans- 

'  Alerding,  "History  of  the  Catholic  Church  la  the  Diocese  of  Vin- 
cennes,"  Indiauapolis,  1883,  p.  119. 

'  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  William  Gaston,  New  York,  June  23,  1836  ; 
Catholic  Diary,  v.,  pp.  Ill,  367. 

»  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  William  Gaston,  Jan.  30,  1837. 


DEATH  OF  MOTHER  MARY  CHARLES.  591 

ferred  from  the  coadjutorship  of  Charleston  and 
been  appointed  Vicar-Apostolic  of  British  Guiana. 
He  left  Charleston  during  the  summer,  and  returned  to 
his  native  country  in  order  to  make  preparations  for 
his  new  duties/  In  Ireland  he  s^Doke  so  disparagingly 
of  the  United  States  as  to  elicit  a  reply  from  Bishoj) 
Purcell,  who  happened  to  be  in  that  country. ^ 

On  the  28th  of  July,  1837,  the  Ursuline  community 
lost  their  venerated  Superior  Mother  Mary  Charles, 
Avho  had  returned  to  Charleston  from  a  visit  to  Ireland, 
undertaken  in  spite  of  her  failing  health,  to  make 
arrangement  for  the  good  of  the  order.  Her  excellent 
uuderstanding,  cultivated  by  thorough  study  and  great 
aptitude  for  business,  made  her  a  most  capable  su- 
perior, while  her  generous  and  attractive  disposition, 
sanctified  by  her  love  of  God,  endeared  her  to  all  and 
gave  her  wonderful  influence.  She  was  succeeded  by 
Mother  Maria  Borgia  (Isabella)  McCarthy,  whose  Ursu- 
line Manual  has  been  so  widely  used  as  a  prayer-book. 

Bishop  England  had,  by  his  own  labor  and  the 
closest  economy,  created  churches  and  institutions  in 
Charleston  which  he  valued  at  $60,000,  burdened  with 
a  debt  of  $25,000,  which  he  was  steadily  reducing.^ 

In  a  terrible  conflagration  ^vllich  swept  away  a  thou- 
sand stores  and  dwellings  in  Charleston,  St.  Mary's 
Church,  Hasell  Street,  recently  repaired  at  consider- 

^  "  Concilia  Proviucialia  Baltimori  habita,"  Baltimore,  1842,  p.  121. 
The  Letters  Apostolic  were  issued  April  12,  1836,  Catholic  Herald,  v., 
pp.  220,  238.  He  was  transferred  April  12,  1837.  He  is  remembered  here 
chiefly  by  his  exposure  of  a  gross  misrepresentation  of  a  document  at 
Newstead  Abbey,  by  Washington  Irving.  His  career  in  Guiana  was 
disastrous.     He  died  in  Ireland  in  1847. 

2  Truth  Teller,  xiv. ,  pp.  324,  358. 

^  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  William  Gaston,  Feb.  34,  1838  ;  same  to 
same,  .Jan.  13,  1840. 


592       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

able  expense,  was  swept  away,  and  the  Catholics  of  , 
the  city  liad  no  place  of  worship  except  the  wretched 
wooden  pro-cathedral,  which  was  already  filled  to 
overflowing  every  Sunday.  St.  Patrick's  Church,  on 
Charleston  Neck,  was  in  course  of  erection,  but  the 
frame  of  the  new  building  perished  in  the  general 
destruction.  ^Vitli  many  of  liis  flock  utterly  ruined, 
and  nearly  all  impoverished.  Bishop  England  appealed, 
on  the  28th  of  May,  1838,  to  the  charitable  and  benevo- 
lent citizens  of  the  United  States,  depicting  the 
struggles  of  the  little  Catholic  body  and  their  absolute 
need  of  assistance.  His  appeal  was  not  disregarded  ; 
many  of  his  brother  bishops  ordered  collections,  and 
on  the  feast  of  the  Assumption  he  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  a  new  church  in  honor  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
after  a  place  had  been  cleared  amid  the  surrounding 
desolation.  The  new  church  was  larger  than  the 
former  one,  and  better  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the 
people.  It  was  dedicated  June  9,  1839,  as  the  Church 
of  the  Annunciation.  On  the  llth  of  April,  1839,  he 
dedicated  St.  John  Baptist's,  a  spacious  brick  church 
just  erected  in  Savannah  ;  a  new  church  was  opened 
in  Columbus,  Georgia,  but  the  dedication  deferred  till 
its  heavy  debt  was  reduced  to  a  safe  limit.  The  neat 
church  at  Sumter,  on  a  site  given  by  Col.  Sumter  near 
the  high  hills  of  Santee,  was  dedicated  in  June.^ 

Early  in  1840,  measures  were  taken  to  erect  a 
church  at  Camden,  S.  C.  At  Washington,  Ga., 
Thomas  Semmes,  Esq.,  gave  a  lot  for  a  church,  and  a 
subscription  was  begun  to  erect  a  solid  stone  edifice. 
Catholics  were  gathering  around  the  church  at  Sumter. 
At  Macon  the  faithful  contemplated  the  purchase  of  a 

'  Catholic  Herald,  vi.,pp.  187,  376  ;  Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  pp.  153, 
244. 


SISTERS  OF  OUR  LADY  OF  MERCY.  593 

Presbyterian,  meeting-house.  The  difficult  mission  of 
North  Carolina  cost  the  Bishop  much  anxiety,  and  he 
labored  earnestly  to  erect  a  church  at  New  Berne,  and 
secure  priests  who  would  persevere  in  that  laborious 
mission.  He  was  greatly  relieved  when  he  laid  the  cor- 
ner-stone of  the  long  desired  church  in  November,  1840.^ 
By  this  time  the  Bishop  began  to  find  his  system  of  con- 
ventions for  each  State  cumbrous  and  expensive,  and 
by  amending  the  constitutions  the  three  were  merged 
into  one  annual  diocesan  convention,  with  a  small 
number  of  delegates.^ 

The  Sisters  of  our  Lady  of  Mercy  were  prospering, 
though  they  lost  one  of  their  most  valuable  members. 
On  the  feast  of  the  Annunciation,  in  1840,  Bishojj  Eng- 
land had  laid  the  corner-stone  of  their  new  convent  on 
Queen  Street.  On  the  18th  of  February  in  the  follow- 
ing year  the  Bishop  celebrated  mass  in  the  new  con- 
vent, and  formally  gave  possession  of  the  property  to 
the  Sisters  for  themselves,  their  pupils,  and  the  orphans 
intrusted  to  their  care.^ 

Bishop  England  set  out  once  more  for  Europe  on 
the  6th  of  May,  and  after  laboring  in  Ireland  and 
France  to  meet  the  wants  of  his  diocese,  returned  at 
the  close  of  the  year.  His  vigorous  constitution  was 
broken,  and  disease  was  sapping  his  strength,  but  he 
knew  no  rest.  His  homeward  voyage  was  a  long  and 
stormy  one  of  fifty-two  days.  The  Mother  Superior 
of  the  Ursulines,  who  was  a  fellow-passenger,  fell  dan- 
gerously ill ;    then   sickness  broke   out   among    the 

'  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  William  Gaston,  July  8, 1839,  Nov.  23,  1840  ; 
Works,  iv.,  pp.  425,  430.     U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany. 

*  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  William  Gaston,  June  29,  1838. 

^  Bishop  England  to  Hon.  William  Gaston,  Aug.  3, 1839  ;  Metropolitan, 
1858,  p.  496  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany. 


594       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

steerage  passengei-s.  Bisliop  England  became  the  de- 
voted chaplain,  and  was  himself  seized  with  the  pre- 
vailing malady.  Yet  when  he  landed  in  Philadelphia 
he  resx)onded  to  the  calls  made  on  him,  and  preached 
continually  for  more  than  two  weeks.  He  reached 
Charleston  in  a  state  of  great  prostration,  but  would 
not  summon  a  physician  until  disease  assumed  a  serious 
asf)ect.  Even  then  he  continued  to  attend  to  his  ordi- 
nary duties  till  his  strength  yielded.  On  the  6tli  of 
April  the  physician  saw  that  the  case  would  terminate 
fatally.  Bishop  England  received  the  announcement 
calmlj^,  and  requested  the  clergy  of  the  city  to  be 
summoned.  He  addressed  them  in  words  of  touching 
humility  and  resignation,  and  attempted  to  read  the 
profession  of  faith,  but  was  unable  to  Jinisli  it.  After 
giving  directions  as  to  the  affairs  of  the  diocese,  he 
received  extreme  unction,  and,  bidding  farewell  to  the 
Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy  and  his  seminarians,  pre- 
pared for  his  final  passage.  Fortified  with  the  sacra- 
ments and  comforts  of  religion  he  expired  calmly  about 
sunrise  of  Monday,  April  11,  1842. 

Bishop  England  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  in  the  history  of  the  Church  in  America.  Thor- 
oughly devoted  to  his  duties,  he  never  spared  himself  ; 
he  seemed  constantly  traveling  through  his  diocese  or 
abroad  for  its  good.  His  general  learning  was  great, 
he  was  fond  of  literary  and  scientific  studies,  and  his 
mind  seemed  to  retain  and  classify  all  it  acquired. 
With  little  leisure,  he  was  a  prolific  writer,  able  and 
cogent  in  controversy.  He  was  an  eloquent  speaker, 
ready  to  address  an  audience  whether  the  Congress  at 
Washington,  a  learned  society,  the  humblest  of  his 
own  flock,  or  a  suspicious  audience  of  those  separated 
from  the  Church,  with  such  a  tide  of  eloquence,  such 
powerful   argument,    such   rich    illustration   that  all 


V.  REV.  R.  S.  BAKER,  ADMINISTRATOR.       595 

hearts  were  swayed.  He  was  prudent  and  practical, 
and  in  the  councils  of  the  Church,  here  and  at  Rome, 
acquired  an  influence  which  could  not  be  accorded  to 
one  not  really  great. 

His  works,  collected  and  published  by  his  successor 
Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Reynolds,  remain  one  of  the  great  trea- 
sures of  our  literature.^ 

When  he  felt  that  the  hand  of  death  was  upon  him, 
he  appointed  Very  Rev.  R.  S.  Baker  to  administer  the 
diocese  till  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  named  his  successor. 


VERY  REV.   RICHARD  SWINTON  BAKER. 

ADMINISTRATOR   OF  THE   DIOCESE  OF   CHARLESTON,  1842-1844. 

The  selection  of  one  to  succeed  so  gifted  a  bishop  as 
Dr.  England  was  no  easy  task.  Able  and  devoted 
clergymen  shrank  from  the  responsibility.  Even  the 
temporary  administration  was  a  formidable  burden. 
Very  Rev.  Mr.  Baker  Avas  born  of  Protestant  parents 
at  Kilkenny,  June  24, 1806.  Received  with  his  mother 
into  the  Church,  he  came  to  Charleston  in  1827,  strongly 
recommended  by  Bishop  Doyle  of  Kildare.  He  was 
ordained  in  1829,  and  after  some  experience  on  the 
mission  was  made  Superior  of  the  seminary.  He 
became  also  Director  of  the  Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of 
Mercy,  and  Rector  of  the  Cathedral.  Strict  almost  to 
severity,  the  seminarians  were  trained  under  him  like 
genuine  monks  of  the  desert.  Archbishop  Eccleston 
confirmed  his  appointment  as  Administrator,  and  he 
undertook  the  duties  quietly  and  sj^stematically.  He 
obtained  places  for  many  of  the  seminarians  in  the 
College  of  the  Propaganda  or  theological  institutions 

'  They  appeared  in  five  octavo  volumes,  Baltimore,  1849,  etc. 


596       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

elsewhere.  He  introduced  into  the  affairs  of  the  dio- 
cese the  most  rigid  economy,  and  showed  great  finan- 
cial ability,  paying  off  twenty  thousand  dollars  of  a 
debt  of  thirty-four  thousand  in  two  years. 

During  this  term  Georgia  entered  on  internal  im- 
provements, and  many  Catholics  were  employed  on  the 
new  roads,  whose  spiritual  condition  required  care, 
which  Rev.  Dr.  Baker  promptly  afforded.  He  en- 
couraged the  establishment  of  an  orphan  asylum  at 
Savannah,  and  the  corner-stone  was  laid  in  the  last 
days  of  December,  1842. 

Judge  Gaston,  the  most  prominent  Catholic  in  the 
diocese,  did  not  long  survive  his  friend  Bishop  Eng- 
land. He  expired  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  Janu- 
ary 23,  1844.  Trained  solidly  in  his  religion  by  his 
pious  mother,  he  was  the  first  student  to  enter  the 
walls  of  Georgetown  College.  Admitted  to  the  bar,  he 
so  impressed  his  fellow- citizens  with  his  uprightness 
and  ability  that  he  was  sent  to  Congress,  where  his 
speeches  are  still  remembered  as  among  the  greatest 
and  most  eloquent.  He  was  the  first  Catholic  to  re- 
ceive the  title  of  Doctor  of  Laws  from  Harvard  College, 
and  it  was  conferred  at  the  instance  of  Judge  Story. 
Very  Rev.  Mr.  Baker  gladly  resigned  his  authority  to 
Bishop  Reynolds,  and  after  a  visit  to  his  native  land 
became,  till  death,  January  30,  1870,  pastor  of  St. 
Mary's  Church,  Charleston.^ 

'  O'Connell,  Catholicity  in  the  Carolinas and  Georgia,  pp.  96,  etc.,  115. 
U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  1843-4. 


CHAPTER  X. 
DIOCESE  OF  BARDSTOWN. 

BT  REV.  BENEDICT  JOSEPH  FLAGET,  D.D.,  FIRST  BISHOP, 

1829-1832. 

After  the  first  Council  of  Baltimore,  the  diocese 
soon  lost  its  able  theologian  Rev.  Francis  P.  Kenrick, 
whom  Bishop  Flaget  had  so  long  struggled  to  retain. 
Appointed  to  the  see  of  Arath  and  the  coadjutorship 
of  Philadelphia,  he  was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Bardstown  by  the  venerable  Bishop  of  that  see.  The 
occasion  drew  to  the  sanctuary  Bishop  Conwell  of 
Philadelphia,  Bishop  England  of  Charleston,  and 
Bishop  Fenwick  of  Cincinnati,  twenty  priests,  and  as 
many  ecclesiastics. 

That  brilliant  ceremonial  was  followed  by  the  laying 
of  the  corner-stone  of  St.  Michael's  Church,  Fairfield, 
and  a  few  days  later  that  of  the  Church  of  St.  Louis,  at 
Louisville,  built  by  Rev.  R.  S.  Abell,  was  dedicated  by 
Bishop  Flaget,  assisted  by  the  Bishops  of  Charleston 
and  Arath.  Later  in  the  year  Bishop  Flaget,  during  a 
visitation,  dedicated  the  brick  Church  of  Holy  Mary. 
During  this  year  also  Nazareth  Academy  was  incor- 
porated, and  a  church  was  built  at  Elizabethtown. 
The  Rev.  Ignatius  A.  Reynolds,  who  had  been  Presi- 
dent of  St.  Joseph's,  resigned  his  position  to  aid  the 
Bishop  in  the  direction  of  the  Seminary  of  St.  Joseph, 
which  had  already  sent  forth  thirty  priests,  and  had  at 
this  time  about  twenty  students.^  

"TxTsyC^uTMi^^dkiy^^^^  83  ;  Spalding,  "Life  of 

Bishop  Flaget,"  p.  367. 

597 


598       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

But  Bishop  Flaget  believed  that  his  period  of  active 
usefulness  was  past,  and  in  this  spirit  he  wrote  to  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  asking  to  be  relieved  of  the  burden 
of  the  diocese.  In  view  of  the  age  and  infirmities  of 
his  Coadjutor,  Bishop  David,  which  would  prevent  his 
traveling  in  order  to  make  visitations  of  the  diocese. 
Dr.  Flaget  proposed  that  Rev.  Guy  Ignatius  Chabrat 
should  be  made  Administrator  of  the  diocese,  having  a 
high  opinion  of  the  virtues  and  ability  of  the  first 
priest  who  was  ordained  in  Kentucky.^  His  resigna- 
tion was  not  deemed  best  for  the  good  of  religion,^ 
but  his  importunity  finally  prevailed.  Meanwhile,  he 
labored  actively  on.  Louisville  was  rising  in  impor- 
tance. Not  only  was  the  church  there  dedicated,  but 
the  Nazareth  community  established  the  Presenta- 
tion Academy  ;  an  orphan  asylum,  St.  Vincent's,  was 
opened,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  a  college  was  soon  under- 
taken. In  1831  St.  Lawrence's  Church  in  Daviess 
Conjity  was  built,  and  in  Indiana  a  church  was  dedi- 
cated at  the  Forks  of  White  River,  where  more  than  a 
hundred  families  of  Catholics  had  gathered  from  Ken- 
tucky and  Maryland,  which  the  Bishop  soon  visited  ; 
and  in  Kentucky  the  original  church  of  the  Irish  mar- 
tyr, St.  Rumold,  Bishop  of  Antwerp,  was  rej)laced  by  a 
finer  structure,  which  has  since  taken  the  name  of  St. 
Romuald.^ 

The  veteran  priest,  Stephen  T.  Badin,  was  laboring 
among  the  Pottowatomies,  near  South  Bend,  Indiana, 
who  hailed  the  advent  of  a  black  gown.     The  Baptists 


'  Jesuit,  i.,  p.  169  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  134. 

^  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  pp.  269,  274.     Bishop  Flaget  to 
Cardinal  Prefect,  May  3,  1833.  • 

»  Webb,  "  Centenary  of  Catholicity,"  pp.  303,  145  ;    U.  S.  Cath.  Mis- 
cellany, xi.,  p.  70  ;  xii.,  p.  262. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  JESUS.  599 

soon  abandoned  a  mission  attempted  by  them,  and  Rev. 
Mr.  Badin  was  encouraged  in  his  efforts  to  revive  the 
teaching  of  the  early  missionaries,  but  was  soon  af- 
flicted by  the  death  of  one  of  his  best  catechumens, 
Nanankoy,  killed  by  an  intoxicated  chief.  His  zeal 
was  soon  rewarded  by  conversions,  one  of  the  first 
being  an  intelligent  man  who,  baptized  a  Catholic,  had 
been  educated  by  the  Baptists  in  one  of  their  institu- 
tions.' 

Bishop  Flaget  had  long  desired  to  secure  for  his  dio- 
cese the  services  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  ; 
and  had  in  1828  solicited  Very  Rev.  Father  Gfodinot, 
provincial  of  France,  for  members  of  his  order.  It  w^as 
not,  however,  till  early  in  1831,  that  Fathers  Chazelle, 
Ladaviere,  and  Petit  reached  New  Orleans,  and  notified 
the  Bishoj)  of  Bardstown  of  their  arrival.  It  had  been 
Dr.  Flaget' s  intention  to  place  them  in  charge  of  St. 
Joseph's  College,  but  when  the  Fathers  arrived  unex- 
pectedly, obstacles  arose.  The  earnest,  devoted  mis- 
sionary, Rev.  William  Byrne,  at  once  offered  the 
Jesuit  Fathers  St.  Mary's  College,  which  he  had 
founded.  The  offer  having  been  accepted  by  the  Gen- 
eral of  the  Society,  the  Fathers  took  possession  in 
the  summer  of  1832  ;  a  novitiate  w^as  soon  opened,  two 
priests.  Revs.  Simon  Fouche  and  Evremond  Harrissart, 
entering.  Other  Fathers  of  the  Society  soon  arrived, 
but  the  calls  of  charity  during  the  prevalence  of  the 
cholera  called  the  Jesuits  from  their  college  to  the  care 
of  the  dying.  Rev.  Mr.  Byrne  had  remained  at  the 
college,  laboring  for  its  good,  though  infirm  in  health, 
and  edifying  all  by  his  virtue.  He,  too,  hastened  to 
the  victims  of  the  disease,  but  was  stricken  down,  and 
crowned  his  life  of  faithful  priestly  service  by  a  pious 

'  lb.,  xii.,  p.  38  ;  Jesuit,  iv.,  p.  163  ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  ii.,  p.  383. 


600       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

death  on  the  eve  of  Corpus  Christi,  June  5,  1833. 
Several  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  were  seized  with  cholera, 
one  Father  Maguire  sharing  the  crown  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Byrne. 

When  the  cholera  ceased  in  1833  St.  Mary's  College 
opened  and  was  in  the  full  tide  of  prosperity,  but 
just  at  nightfall,  December  30,  1833,  the  main  build- 
ing burst  into  flames,  and  in  a  short  time  only  the 
blackened  walls  remained.^ 

Late  in  the  year  Bishop  Flaget  set  out  with  Rev. 
Mr.  Abell  for  a  visitation  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and 
then  stopped  at  Saint  Louis.  During  his  absence  in 
the  beginning  of  December  arrived  official  informa- 
tion from  Rome  that  the  Pope  had  accepted  his  resig- 
nation of  the  see  of  Bardstown.^ 


RIGHT  REV.  JOHN  BAPTIST  DAVID. 
SECOND  BISHOP  OF  BAEDSTOWN,  1832-33. 

The  Holy  See,  in  accepting  the  resignation  of  Bishop 
Flaget,  did  not  take  any  such  action  as  Bishop  Flaget 


SIGNATURE   OP   RT.    REV.    JOHN   B.    DAVID,  BISHOP   OF  BARDSTOWN. 

proposed  in  regard  to  the  administration  of  the  dio- 
cese.     Rt.   Rev.   Dr.   David   became,   by   succession, 

'  Wcodstock  Letters,  ii.,  pp.  109-122  ;  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop 
Flaget,"  p.  270;  Webb,  "Centenary  of  Catholicity,"  p.  385;  U.  S. 
Cath.  Miscellany,  xiii.,  pp.  254,  334;  Catholic  Telegraph,  ii.,  p.  399; 
iii.,  p.  84. 

»  Letter  from  Louisville,  Dec.  7,  1832,  to  Archbishop  Whitfield. 


RESIGNATION.  601 

second  Bishop  of  Bardstown.  The  necessary  indults, 
faculties,  bulls  appointing  a  Coadjutor  arrived.  He 
was  older,  more  inlirm  than  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Flaget,  and 
had  become  so  corpulent  that  it  would  be  utterly 
impossible  for  him  to  take  the  long  journeys  on  horse- 
back, necessary  at  that  time  in  order  to  make  visita- 
tions of  the  churches.  "  I  shed  more  tears  during 
three  days  than  I  have  since  I  came  to  Kentucky.  It 
was  a  profound  affliction,  mixed  with  astonishment  at 
the  step  of  that  good  Bishop."  The  first  act  of  his 
administration  was  to  appoint  Bishop  Flaget  Vicar- 
General  of  the  diocese,  with  the  most  ample  powers 
he  could  confer,  and  the  next  was  to  transmit  to  Rome 
his  resignation  of  the  see  of  Bardstown,  with  a  clear 
statement  of  the  causes  which  unfitted  him  for  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  required  by  the  position.  He 
advised  the  reappointment  of  Bishop  Flaget.'  When 
the  resignation  of  Bishop  Flaget  became  known  it 
created  "a  great  sensation  in  the  public  mind."  The 
inability  of  Dr.  David  was  well  known,  and  the  Coad- 
jutor proposed  for  him,  Rev.  G.  I.  Chabrat,  was  re- 
garded unfavorably  as  of  a  very  arbitrary  disposi- 
tion. "These  changes,"  says  Archbishop  Spalding, 
"caused  general  dissatisfaction  among  both  the  clergy 
and  laity  of  Kentucky.  The  former  Coadjutor  loudly 
protested  against  his  unexpected  promotion  ;  and  the 
whole  diocese  was  seized  with  grief  at  the  apprehended 
loss  of  a  bishop  so  universally  esteemed  and  loved." 
Bishop  Flaget  did  not  dare  to  face  alone  the  storm  he 
had  raised :  he  induced  Bishop  Rosati  to  accompany 
him  to  Kentucky.  Finding  the  discontent  with  his 
action  to  be  general,  he  was  deeply  grieved,  and,  as 


'  Bishop  David  to  Sister  Mary  Magdalen,  Visitation  Convent,  Jan.  16, 
1833. 


602       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Bishop  David  persisted  in  resigning  the  see,  the  three 
bishops,  after  offering  the  holy  sacrifice  "on  St.  John's 
day,  to  obtain  the  light  of  God  by  the  intercession  of 
that  beloved  disciple  of  our  Lord,"  united  in  letters 
to  the  Pope  and  the  Propaganda,  urging  the  accep- 
tance of  the  resignation,  and  praying  his  Holiness  to 
dispose  of  Bishop  Flaget  and  Rev.  Mr.  Chabrat  as  he 
deemed  best  for  the  interest  of  the  Church.  In  May, 
1833,  the  documents  arrived  from  Rome,  by  which 
Bishop  David's  resignation  of  the  see  v^as  accepted, 
and  Bishop  Flaget  was  reappointed  to  the  diocese  of 
Bardstown.  Rt.  Rev,  Dr.  David  thus  laid  aside  the 
episcopal  office,  and  remained  in  his  seminary,  bishop 
neither  of  Mauricastro  nor  Bardstown.  He  was  still 
indeed  the  devoted  friend,  the  counselor,  and  spiritual 
director  of  Bishop  Flaget.  Toward  the  year  1841  his 
health  declined  visibly,  and  the  Sisters  of  Charity, 
whom  he  had  founded,  besought  him  to  come  to 
Nazareth,  that  his  spiritual  daughters  might  give  him 
all  the  attention  he  required.  He  accepted  the  invita- 
tion ;  but  their  devoted  care  could  not  stay  the  prog- 
ress of  disease.  After  receiving  the  last  sacraments 
from  the  hands  of  Bishop  Flaget,  he  expired,  in  full 
possession  of  his  consciousness,  on  the  12th  of  July, 
1841.  ''A  truer  and  more  sincerely  Christian  heart 
never  beat  in  mortal  bosom  than  that  whose  pulsations 
ceased  when  Bishop  David  expired.  He  died  as  he 
had  lived.  Regularity  in  all  the  actions  of  his  life 
had  become  with  him  a  settled  habit,  a  second  nature. 
Full  of  burning  zeal  for  the  salvation  of  souls,  he 
never  spared  himself.  In  season  and  out  of  season  he 
preached  the  word ;  he  persuaded,  he  besought, 
he  reproved,  in  all  patience  and  doctrine."  "His 
remains  repose  in  the  cemetery  of  Nazareth,  and 
his  spiritual  daughters  have  erected  a  suitable  monu- 


RESIGNATION.  603 

ment  to   Ms  memory.      He  was  in  liis  eighty-first 
year."  ^ 


RT.   REV.   BENEDICT    J.   FLAGET. 
THIRD  BISHOP  OF  BARDSTOWN,  1833^3. 

CoisrvERSiONS  to  the  faith  have  been  mentioned  in 
these  pages,  but  it  would  be  impossible  to  chronicle 
all,  even  of  those  marked  by  special  signs  of  grace. 
The  conversion  of  Dr.  James  B.  Dillon  in  Scott  County, 
Kentucky,  in  1833  was  peculiar  from  the  fact  that  he 
was  drawn  to  the  Church  by  the  very  feature  which 
prejudices  many  against  her.  This  gentleman,  weary 
of  the  multitude  of  different  doctrines  put  forward 
around  him,  all  based  on  human  opinion  and  disclaim- 
ing any  absolute  authority,  asked  himself  whether 
Christ  must  not  have  established  a  church  to  teach  his 
truth  infallibly  to  the  end  of  time.  He  turned  to  the 
only  body  that  claimed  such  a  power,  and  soon  recog- 
nized the  validity  of  the  claim. ^ 

During  the  cholera  of  1833,  the  Sisters  of  Charity, 
the  Lorettines,  and  the  Dominican  Sisters  displayed 
their  devoted  and  heroic  charity  during  the  two  months 
the  pestilence  raged.  Three  of  the  Sisters  of  Charity, 
returning  to  their  home,  were  suddenly  seized  with  the 
disease  and  died.     Others  of  the  community  were  also 

'  Bishop  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  pp.  274-5,  332-3  ;  Catholic 
Herald,  ix.,  p.  237  ;  Catholic  Expositor,  i.,  p.  275.  Bishop  David  pre- 
pared an  excellent  edition  of  "  True  Piety,"  and  a  Catholic  Hymn  Book. 
Finotti,  "  Bibliographia,"  p.  97.  John  Baptist  Mary  David  was  born  in 
1761,  near  Nantes,  France.  After  receiving  his  education  under  the 
Oratorians  and  in  the  Seminary  at  Nantes,  he  was  ordained  in  1785. 
Becoming  a  Sulpitian  he  held  important  chairs  in  their  seminaries  and 
came  to  the  United  States  in  1793. 

'U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xii.,  p.  142. 


604       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

attacked,  as  well  as  pupils  in  the  Nazareth  Academy.^ 
The  bishop  and  his  clergy  were  constantly  by  the  bed- 
side of  the  sick  and  dying,  and  Bishop  Flaget  notes 
especially  the  devotion  of  a  young  Dominican  Father 
and  two  Brothers. 

Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Flaget,  on  his  reappointment,  solicited 
the  Rev.  G.  I.  Chabrat  as  Coadjutor,  and  the  bulls 
electing  him  arrived  June  29,  1834.  He  had  just  re- 
covered from  a  dangerous  illness  and  was  consecrated 
Bishop  of  Bolina  in  partibus  infidelium,  on  the  20th  of 
July,  in  Bardstown  Cathedral,  by  the  Bishop  of  Bards- 
town,  Bishop  David  and  Rev.  Richard  Pius  Miles, 
O.P.,  acting  as  assistants.^  In  September,  1834,  a  small 
church  was  dedicated  under  the   invocation  of   the 

SIGNATURE   OF   RT.    REV.    G.    I.    CHABRAT,    COADJUTOR. 

Blessed  Virgin  at  Covington,  Kentucky,  and  an  orphan 
asylum  opened  near  it,  chiefly  by  the  charity  of  G. 
R.  Springer  of  New  Orleans.  Thus  began  Catholic 
work  in  the  future  see  of  Covington.^ 

Soon  after  the  diocese  obtained  its  first  Catholic 
periodical,  "The  St.  Joseph's  College  Minerva,  aRepos- 
itory  of  National  and  Foreign  Literature,"  issued  at 
the  college  in  Bardstown,  Rev.  Martin  J.  Spalding, 

'  The  Sisters  were  Joanna  Lewis,  Patricia  Bamber,  and  Generose  Buck- 
man.  Another  martyr  of  charity  was  Sister  Benedicta  of  Loretto.  An- 
nales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  vii.,  p.  90,  etc.  ;  Spalding,  Life  of 
Bishop  Flaget,  p.  275.  Sister  Mary  Teresa  Lynch,  of  the  Order  of  St. 
Dominic,  was  another  martyr  of  charity,  Webb,  p.  268. 

» Webb,  p.  280. 

^  "  Catholic  Telegraph,"  iii.,  p.  349  ;  "  Catholic  Register,"  iii.,  p.  7. 


RELIEVED  OF  INDIANA.  605 

one  of  the  faculty,  being  the  founder  and  a  valuable 
contributor. 

Tennessee  as  yet  possessed  no  Catholic  church,  but 
there  were  small  congregations  at  Nashville,  Gallatin, 
and  Murfreesboro,  which  were  visited  from  time  to 
time  by  Rev.  E.  J.  Durbin,  his  baptisms  in  that  State 
numbering  ninety-four  in  a  year.^ 

Bishop  Flaget  had  long  urged  the  erection  of  an 
episcopal  see  at  Vincennes,  and  his  desire  was  grati- 
hed  when  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  on  the  6th  of  May,  1834, 
established  the  see  of  Vincennes,  the  diocese  embrac- 
ing the  State  of  Indiana  and  the  eastern  portion  of 
Illinois,  the  rest  of  that  part  being  formally  attached 
to  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis.^    Bishop  Flaget  joyfully 
took  part  in  installing  Bishop  Brute  in  that  ancient 
French  town.     He  was  relieved  of  all  the  territory 
northwest  of  the  Ohio,  which  had  been  originally  an- 
nexed to  his  diocese,  but  was  now  committed  to  the 
care  of  the  three  bishops  of  Cincinnati,  Detroit,  and 
Vincennes.     His  diocese  was  advancing  steadily,  gain- 
ing comparatively  little  by  immigration,  and  compara- 
tively well  supplied  with  churches,  priests,  schools, 
and  asylums.     With  a  coadjutor  on  whom  he  felt  that 
he  could  temporarily  lay  the  burden  of  administra- 
tion, he  resolved  to  go  to  Europe  in  order  to  make  the 
required  visit  to  the  threshold  of  the  apostles,  as  well 
as  to  see  his  native  land  once  more.     He  accordingly 
set  out  early  in  the  spring  of  1835,  only  two  or  three 
persons  being  aware  of  his  intentions.     His  stay  in 


'  It  began  October,  1834.  About  this  time  Mrs.  Angeline  Mallet  died 
at  Vincennes,  at  the  age  of  110,  older  even  than  the  old  French  post, 
lb.,  p.  387. 

"  Catholic  Telegraph,  iv.,  p.  176.     U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xv.,  p.  78. 

^Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  p.  108  ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  iii., 
p.  405. 


606       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Europe  lasted  four  years,  and  he  seems  to  have  enter- 
tained the  hope  that  he  would  be  allowed  to  end  his 
days  in  his  native  land.  He  was  everywhere  received 
as  an  apostle  and  a  saint ;  his  prayers  were  sought, 
and  miracles  ascribed  to  him.^ 

In  a  memoir  to  Cardinal  Fransoni  the  venerable 
Bishop  exposed  the  progress  which  religion  had  made 
in  his  diocese  since  he  entered  it,  as  well  as  its  actual 
necessities.  Among  these  were  means  to  place  at 
least  one  priest  permanently  in  Tennessee  and  erect 
churches  ;  to  introduce  a  religious  community  of  Bro- 
thers to  take  charge  of  schools  for  boys  ;  and  also 
an  order  to  devote  itself  to  the  instruction  of  the  deaf 
and  dumb,  whose  numbers  were  large  in  Kentucky 
and  Ohio.^ 

During  the  absence  of  Dr.  Flaget  in  Europe,  Bishop 
Chabrat  governed  the  diocese,  discharging  his  duties 
quietly  and  efficiently.  He  made  regular  visitations 
throughout  the  State,  acting  at  first  in  an  arbitrary 
manner,  till  he  took  counsel  of  experienced  members 
of  the  clergy.  In  November,  1835,  he  relieved  Rev. 
Ignatius  A.  Reynolds  of  the  post  of  Superior  of  the 
Nazareth  Sisters,  and  in  1836  saw  Lexington  menaced 
with  dangers  such  as  had  dishonored  the  East.  The 
establishment  of  an  academy  by  the  Sisters  of  Charity 
at  Lexington,  Kentucky,  had  excited  much  rancorous 
feeling,  which  anti-catholic  sectarian  schools  industri- 
ously fomented.  The  pupils  were  alarmed  one  night 
when  retiring  by  loud  knocking  at  the  door  and  win- 

»  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  pp.  308-327  ;  Georges,  "  Monsei- 
gneur  Flaget,  Evgque  de  Bardstown  et  Louisville,"  Paris,  1855,  pp. 
103-140. 

'  "  Memoire  presente  a  son  Eminence  le  Cardinal  Fransoni  Prefet  de 
la  Propagande,  par  les  ordres  du  Souverain  Pontife,  dans  lequel  j'expose 
Tetat  de  mon  diocfese  en  1810  et  celui  oii  il  est  en  1836." 


THE  CATHOLIC  ADVOCATE.  607 

dow.  Ill  their  alarm  they  began  to  scream  and  run, 
upsetting  a  lamp  and  endangering  the  building.  For- 
tunately no  accident  occurred  and  the  panic  was  soon 
allayed.  Yet  out  of  this  trivial  incident  malicious 
writers  contrived  to  frame  accusations  against  the  Sis- 
ters and  the  clergyman  in  charge  of  the  Catholic  church 
at  Lexington/ 

With  the  year  1836  the  Minerva  was  succeeded  by 
the  first  Catholic  weekly  paper,  issued  in  Kentucky, 
"The  Catholic  Advocate,"  which  had  been  projected 
for  some  years  by  Hon.  Ben.  J.  Webb,  who  lived  to 
write  "The  Centenary  of  Catholicity  in  Kentucky," 
after  contributing  much  to  the  literature  of  the  coun- 
try. ^ 

During  this  year  a  preacher  named  Rice  attempted 
to  rival  the  Maria  Monk  conspirators,  and  assailed  the 
character  of  a  pure  and  exemplary  priest.  Rev.  D.  A. 
Deparcq,  Superior  of  the  Lorelto  Sisters,  who  was  then 
in  Europe.  Rev.  Mr.  Elder  sued  the  libeler,  and  the 
case  was  so  clear  that  the  jury  gave  its  verdict  against 
Rice.^ 

Rev.  Edward  McMahon  in  1836  undertook  the 
erection  of  a  new  church  at  Lexington  and  visited 
other  States  to  collect.  He  was  thus  enabled  to  com- 
plete the  edifice,  so  that  it  was  dedicated  by  Bishop 
Chabrat,  Dec.  3,  1837,  under  the  invocation  of  St. 
Peter.*  St.  Jerome's  Church,  at  Fancy  Farm,  was 
erected,  and  the  German  congregation  organized  at 

'  Catholic  Diary,  vi.,  p.  241.  See  as  to  Sisters  about  this  time,  Cath. 
Advocate,  iii.,  p.  61. 

'  Webb,  "  Centenary,"  pp.  63,  319,  486. 

»  Webb,  "  Centenary,"  244  ;  G.  A.  M.  Elder,  "  To  the  public,"  1836  ; 
Rice,  "  An  Account  of  the  Lawsuit,"  etc.,  Louisville,  1887. 

*  Webb.  p.  331,  164,  172,  220. 


608       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Louisville  soon  erected  St.  Boniface's  Church.  In 
April,  1837,  Bishop  Chabrat  attended  the  third  Pro- 
vincial Council  of  Baltimore  and  explained  to  the 
Fathers  the  desire  of  Bishop  Flaget  for  the  formation 
of  the  State  of  Tennessee  into  a  diocese.  In  the  fifth 
private  congregation  it  was  decided  to  petition  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff  to  erect  a  see  at  Nashville,  with 
Tennessee  as  the  diocese.  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  com- 
plying with  the  desire  of  the  episcopate,  erected  that 
see  on  tlie  25th  of  July,  1837.  The  Dominican  Father 
Richard  Pius  Miles,  elected  to  the  new  diocese,  was 
consecrated  on  the  16th  of  September,  1838,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  his  ax^pointed  station.^ 

The  diocese  of  Bardstown  was  thus  reduced  to  the 
State  of  Kentucky. 

In  1838  the  Catholic  body  in  Kentucky  lost  its  patri- 
arch, John  Lancaster,  Esq.,  who  had  emigrated  to  the 
State  in  1783,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  and  who  had 
gone  through  Indian  wars  and  Indian  captivity  in  his 
early  days.  He  lived  to  fill  high  offices,  and  sit  in  the 
Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State. 
Through  his  long  and  honored  life  he  was  a  pious  and 
exemplary  Catholic. 

During  his  visitation  in  1838  Bishop  Chabrat  dedi- 
cated the  brick  church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  on 
Rude's  Creek,  recently  erected  by  Rev.  Mr.  Chambige. 
The  Coadjutor  Bishop  was  accompanied  by  Rev.  Mar- 
tin J.  Spalding  and  the  venerable  priest  Stephen  T, 
Badin,  whose  eloquent  and  forcible  sermons  produced 
a  remarkable  effect.^    On  the  feast  of  All  Saints  he 


'  "  Concilia  Provincialia  Baltimori  habita  ab  anno  1829,  usque  ad 
annum  1840,"  Baltimore,  1842,  pp.  121, 127.  "  Bullarium  de  Propaganda 
Fide,"  v.,  p.  163. 

^  Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  p.  94. 


BISHOP  FLAGET'S  RETURN.  609 

dedicated  the  Church  of  St.  Boniface  on  Green  Street, 
Louisville,  erected  by  the  German  congregation  which 
had  been  organized  in  1836  by  Rev.  Joseph  Stal- 
schmidt.  This  churph,  after  its  opening,  was  attended 
for  a  time  from  Indiana  and  Ohio  by  Rev.  Joseph  Fer- 
neding  and  Rev.  John  M.  Henni.^ 

On  the  25th  of  January,  1838,  the  main  building  of 
St.  Joseph's  College  was  destroyed  by  lire.  The  foun- 
der, Rev.  G.  A.  M.  Elder,  was  again  President,  and  his 
exertions  on  this  occasion  brought  on  an  illness  from 
which  he  never  recovered.  He  lingered  till  the  28tli  of 
September,  when  he  expired  at  the  college.  Earnest, 
laborious,  of  unvarying  gentleness,  he  was  beloved  by 
all,  and  his  death  was  the  pious  complement  of  a  well- 
spent  life.^  Rev.  M.  J.  Spalding  then  became  Presi- 
dent of  St.  Joseph's  College. 

In  July,  1839,  Bishop  Flaget.  who  had  been  preach- 
ing in  behalf  of  the  Association  for  the  Propagation  in 
France,  sailed  once  more  for  the  United  States,  and  in 
September  was  welcomed  at  Bardstown  with  the 
utmost  enthusiasm.  The  bells  of  cathedral  and  col- 
lege were  rung  in  sign  of  joy,  and  Protestants  partici- 
pated, with  Catholics  in  the  general  gladness.  To 
gratify  his  flock,  among  whom  there  was  a  general 
desire  to  see  him,  he  soon  began  a  visitation  of  his 
diocese.  His  presence  gave  a  new  impulse  to  many 
projects  ;  churches  were  improved,  new  ones  erected  at 
Taylorsville  and  Portland.^ 

Louisville  had  by  this  time  grown  to  be  a  city  of 
20,000  inhabitants,  and  its  Catholic  institutions  had  so 

'  Catliolic  Advocate,  iii.,  p.  334;  "Webb,  "Centenary,"  p.  515. 

"^  Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  pp.  292,  318  ;  Freeman's  Journal,  i.,  p.  282  ; 
Webb,  466. 

3  Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  pp.  317,  320  ;  Truth  Toller,  xv.,  p.  217. 


610       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

developed  that  Bishop  Flaget  felt  that  it  was  the 
proper  place  for  the  head  of  the  diocese.  He  was 
reluctant  to  leave  Bardstown,  the  cradle  of  Catholicity, 
with  the  institutions  which  had  -been  so  laboriously 
created  during  thirty  years  of  his  episcopate.  The 
matter  had  been  presented  to  the  Holy  See,  and  at 
last  a  rescript  of  the  Pope  authorized  him  to  remove 
his  residence  to  Louisville.  The  original  see  was  not, 
however,  suppressed,  but  he  became  and  styled  him- 
self Bishop  of  Louisville  and  Bardstown.  It  was  pro- 
posed to  install  Bishop  Flaget  at  Louisville  on  Christ- 
mas day,  but  he  was  prevented  by  illness. 

Early  in  the  next  year  the  transfer  was  effected,  and 
he  was  received  with  cordial  welcome.  In  June  he 
issued  a  pastoral  to  invite  his  flock  to  pray  for  the 
necessities  of  the  Church  in  Spain,  and  thus  share  in 
the  advantages  of  the  jubilee  granted  by  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff.^ 

On  the  1st  of  December  he  was  rejoiced  to  see  the 
arrival  of  a  colony  of  Sisters  of  Charity  of  the  Good 
Shepherd,  whom  he  had  secured  at  Angers  during  his 
stay  in  Europe.  As  the  house  was  not  ready  for  them 
to  begin  their  holy  work  of  reforming  women  who  had 
strayed  from  the  paths  of  virtue,  they  were  placed 
temporarily  at  Portland,  near  Cedar  Grove  Academy. 
The  erection  of  their  convent  was  then  pushed  actively, 
the  whole  expense  falling  on  the  Bishop,  and  the  Sis- 
ters entered  it  on  the  4th  of  September,  1843.^ 

The  Jesuit  Fathers  began  an  academy  in  Louisville. 
St.  Stephen's  Church  was  dedicated  at  Owensboro, 
and  on  the  30th  of  October,  1842,  Bishop  Chabrat  dedi- 

'  Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  p.  166. 

"  Spalding,  "  Life  of  Bishop  Flaget,"  p.  336  ;  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine, 
ii.,  pp.  63,  123. 


BISHOP  CHABRAT.  611 

cated  St.  Mary's  Church,  Covington,  a  fine  brick  struc- 
ture, erected  by  tlie  German  Catliolics  of  that  city.  On 
the  15th  of  January,  1843,  Bishoj)  Flaget  issued  a  pas- 
toral letter  to  his  clergy,  in  which,  after  rejoicing  at 
the  good  effected  by  the  jubilee,  he  said  :  "  Being  now 
in  the  eightieth  year  of  our  life,  and  knowing  that 
the  time  of  our  dissolution  cannot  be  far  distant,  our 
prayers  have  been  offered,  in  the  commencement  of 
this  year,  with  increased  fervor,  for  you  and  for  the 
souls  committed  to  your  and  our  care."  He  estab- 
lished in  his  diocese  the  Archconfraternity  of  the 
Holy  and  Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,  for  the  Conver- 
sion of  Sinners.^ 

About  this  time,  a  new  trouble,  of  a  weighty  charac- 
ter, afflicted  the  heart  of  the  venerable  Bishop.  The 
staff  on  which  he  leaned  was  yielding ;  his  Coadjutor, 
Bishop  Chabrat,  showed  an  alarming  decline  of  health, 
and,  once  remarkable  for  his  keen  eyes,  he  was 
threatened  with  the  entire  loss  of  sight.  After  sub- 
mitting to  a  course  of  treatment  under  one  of  the  most 
eminent  oculists  in  the  country,  without  obtaining  re- 
lief, he  went  to  Paris  ;  but  the  most  skillful  specialists 
there  could  offer  him  no  hope.  Convinced  that  his 
days  of  usefulness  in  the  episcopate  were  ended,  he 
was  anxious  to  resign  his  iDOsition  as  Coadjutor.  His 
petition  to  Rome  was  referred  by  the  authorities  there 
to  the  consideration  of  the  next  Provincial  Council.^ 

'  Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  p.  401  ;  Catholic  Herald,  xi.,  p.  38. 

^  Guy  Ignatius  Chabrat  was  born  at  Chambre,  France,  Dec.  28,  1787, 
and  came  to  the  United  States  with  Bishop  Flage't  in  1810.  He  was  or- 
dained Dec.  25,  1811.  He  did  mission  duty  at  St.  Micliael's,  St.  Clare's 
and  Fairfield ;  was  Superior  of  the  community  of  Brothers  and  of  the 
Sisters  of  Loretto.  His  resignation  of  the  coadjutorship  was  accepted 
in  1847.  After  leaving  America  he  retired  to  the  paternal  roof  in  IMau- 
riac,  becoming  completely  blind,  and  died  there  Nov.  21,  1868,  in  liis 
82d  year. 


612       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

For  Bishop  Flaget  to  be  thus  left  alone  in  his  extreme 
old  age,  with  infirmities  fast  growing  upon  him,  was 
indeed  a  severe  trial  even  for  one  who  had  already 
endured  so  much  :  but  he  bowed  to  the  holy  will  of 
God,  and  sought  refuge  in  jprayer,  constantly  repeat- 
ing :   "  May  His  holy  will  be  done  !  " 

During  these  later  years  Rev.  Napoleon  B.  Perclie, 
future  Archbishop  of  New  Orleans,  formed  a  congrega- 
tion at  Portland,  and  erected  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  ; 
a  church  was  dedicated  at  Raywick,  and  Cedar  Grove 
Academy  established.  At  the  close  of  the  year  1843 
the  diocese  contained  forty  churches  and  chapels, 
twenty-six  priests  on  the  mission,  and  twenty-three 
otherwise  employed.  The  diocesan  seminary  was  in 
Marion  County  under  the  Lazarists  ;  the  Jesuits  and 
Dominicans  were  laboring  ;  St,  Joseph's  College,  duly 
incorporated,  was  under  the  presidency  of  Rev.  J.  M. 
Lancaster;  St.  Mary's  College,  also  incorporated,  was 
jjresided  over  by  Rev.  William  S.  Murphy,  S.J.  ;  St. 
Ignatius  Literary  Institution,  in  Louisville,  was  di- 
rected by  Rev.  John  Larkin,  S.J.  ;  Mount  Merino 
Seminary  was  near  Hardinsburg;  there  were  female 
academies  at  Bardstown,  Morganfield,  Lexington, 
under  the  Sisters  of  Charity  ;  near  Springfield,  under 
the  Dominican  Sisters  ;  at  Loretto,  Bethlehem,  Holy 
Mary,  Calvary,  and  Gethsemane,  under  the  Sisters  of 
Loretto,  who  had  also  an  Orphan  Asylum  and  the 
Loretto  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum. 


CHAPTER   XL 

DIOCESE  OF  CINCINNATI. 
RT.  REV.  EDWARD  DOMINIC  FENWICK,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1829-1832. 

Returning  from  the  Council  of  Baltimore,  Bishop 
Fenwick  resumed  his  labors  in  his  diocese.  During 
the  year  1830  he  was  deprived  by  death  of  a  Spanish 
Dominican  Father  Rafael  Munoz,  who  after  being 
confessor  to  the  royal  family  in  Spain  came,  in  1824, 
to  devote  himself  to  the  American  missions.  He  had 
labored  earnestly,  was  Provincial  in  his  order,  and 
Vicar-General  of  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati.  He  died 
on  the  18th  of  July,  universally  regretted. 

Early  in  this  year  Bishop  Fenwick  sent  his  Vicar- 
G-eneral,  Frederic  Rese,  to  Europe,  and  addressed  the 
Emperor  of  Austria  in  behalf  of  his  missions,  receiving 
a  gracious  answer. 

The  Sisters  of  Charity  from  Emmitsburg  had  opened 
an  orphan  asylum  in  Cincinnati,  but  needed  proper 
accommodation.  They  were  relieved  in  December  by 
the  generous  gift  of  a  house  near  the  Cathedral  by  M. 
P.  Cassely,  Esq.^  The  Pottawatomie  Indians,  on  the 
upper  part  of  St.  Joseph's  River,  were  objects  of  the 
Bishop's  zeal.  After  a  visit  to  the  tribe  by  Rev. 
Frederic  Rese,  he  appointed  Rev.  Stephen  Theodore 
Badin  to  the  mission,  and  the  veteran  priest  soon  had 
seventy  preparing  for  baptism.  Rev.  Mr.  Rese  visited 
also  Mackinac,  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  Green  Bay. 
The  old  mission  church  at  Mackinac,  with  Green  Bay. 

'  Truth  Teller,  vi.,  pp.  274,  399  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  55. 

613 


614       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

was  soon  assigned  to  the  recently  ordained  Dominican 
Father  SamuGl  Mazzuchelli.  With  Rev.  Mr.  Dejean 
accomi)lishing  much  good  at  Arbre  Croche,  the  Indian 
missions  of  the  diocese  were  thus  assuming  an  en- 
couraging appearance.  Bishop  Fenwick  visited  in 
person  several  of  the  congregations  in  Ohio.^ 

As  Catholic  priests  appeared  in  Ohio  and  Michigan 
to  officiate  for  the  Catholic  faithful,  ministers  of  the 
sects  began  to  assail  the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  her 
clergy,  and  her  people.  Father  Mazzuchelli  at  Macki- 
nac responded  so  ably  to  one  of  these  assailants  that 
he  converted  three  to  the  Catholic  religion.  The 
Bishop  felt  that  a  journal  was  needed  in  his  diocese 
to  meet  these  constant  attacks,  and  during  the  year 
1831  prepared  to  publish  The  Catholic  Telegraph.  It 
made  its  first  appearance  on  the  22d  of  October,  the 
day  of  Dr.  Fenwick' s  return  from  a  visitation  lasting 
nearly  five  months.  During  that  period  he  visited 
nearly  all  the  congregations  in  his  diocese.  Rev. 
Frederic  Baraga  had  by  this  time  begun  his  mission 
career  at  Arbre  Croche.  The  venerable  Badin,  living 
with  the  Indian  chief  Pokagan,  not  only  attended  his 
Indians,  but  a  French  village,  and  two  future  sees. 
Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago.  At  Green  Bay  Bishop 
Fenwick  was  gladly  welcomed,  a  site  of  two  acres  was 
given  to  him,  and  he  made  arrangements  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  chapel.  He  did  not  leave  until  he  had  estab- 
lished a  Menominee  Indian  school.  On  his  return  to 
Cincinnati,  he  was  prostrated  for  several  weeks  at  St. 
Joseph's  Convent  with  a  violent  fever,  for  his  labors 
in  traveling,  preaching,  confirming,  with  hours  in  the 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  pp.  79.  183  ;  Mazzuchelli,  "  Memorie 
istoriche  ed  edificante,"  Milan,  1844,  pp.  28-33  ;  Marty,  "  Dr.  Joliann 
Martin  Henni,  erster  Bischof  uud  Erzbischof  von  Milwaukee,"  New 
York,  1888,  pp.  4G-7. 


INDIANS  AT  THE  PROPAGANDA.  615 

confessional,  had  exhausted  his  strength/  On  his 
return  he  appealed,  and  not  in  vain,  to  the  general 
government  to  recognize  the  three  Indian  schools 
which  he  had  established. 

The  next  year  he  made  visitations,  or  rather  mis- 
sions, in  many  of  the  churches  and  stations,  returning 
to  Cincinnati  early  in  April.  One  result  was  the  lay- 
ing of  the  corner-stone  of  a  church  in  Steubenville. 
By  this  time  the  Academy  of  the  Dominican  Sisters  at 
Somerset  was  in  a  prosperous  condition,  with  sixty 
pupils.^ 

Bishop  Fenwick,  in  a  letter  to  Pope  Gregory  XVI., 
spoke  of  the  missions  among  the  Indians  in  his  dio- 
cese, and  pro]3osed  to  send  to  the  College  de  Propa- 
ganda Fide  two  young  men  of  the  Ottawa  tribe,  who 
seemed  to  have  a  decided  vocation  for  the  priesthood, 
and  whom  he  had  instructed  for  two  years  in  his 
Seminary.  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  on  the  14th  of  April, 
1832,  encouraged  him  by  a  consoling  letter,  and  agreed 
to  receive  the  young  Ottawas,  William  Maccodabinese 
and  Augustine  Hamelin.  They  accordingly  set  out 
for  Rome  in  May,  under  the  charge  of  V.  Rev.  Fred- 
eric Rese,  and  were  received  with  great  kindness  by 
Cardinal  Pedicini,  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  who 
addressed  a  flattering  letter  to  Bishop  Fenwick.^ 

That  devoted  pastor  resumed  his  missionary  journeys 
in  June  and  reached  Green  Bay  and  Arbre  Croche, 

1  Catholic  Telegraph,  i..  pp.  6,  14,  199,  306;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany, 
xi.,  pp.  50-159  ;  Mazzuchelli,  "Memorie,"  p.  51,  etc. 

»  Catholic  Telegraph,  i.,  p.  247. 

3  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  to  Bishop  E.  D.  Fenwick,  U.  S.  Cath.  Mis- 
cellany, xii.,  p.  23;  xi.,  p.  357.  Cardinal  Pedicini  to  same,  Cath.  Tele- 
graph, i.,  p.  403.  William  Maccodabinese  died  at  Rome  June  9,  1833  : 
Hamelin  returned  and  led  an  edifying  life  at  Pointe  St.  Ignace.  Catholic 
Telegraph,  iii.,  p.  71. 


616       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

confirming  many  whites  and  Indians  at  both  places. 
On  the  12th  of  August  he  wrote  briefly  from  Mackinac. 
Tlie  cholera  was  already  spreading  through  the 
country,  and  Bishop  Fenwick  directed  the  collect  pro- 
vitanda  mortalitate  to  be  added  in  the  daily  mass. 
He  was  himself  soon  to  fall  a  victim  to  the  disease. 
Though  suffering  from  dysentery  he  continued  his 
apostolic  journeys,  and  after  a  short  rest  at  Canton  set 
out  for  Cincinnati.  When  he  reached  the  house  of  a 
Catholic  family  in  Wooster,  he  was  seized  with  cholera. 
The  physicians  summoned  failed  to  check  the  disease  : 
and  he  soon  became  insensible  to  all  around.  Rev. 
John  M.  Henni  was  summoned  from  Canton,  but  the 
devoted  Bishop,  whose  last  words  were,  "Come,  let 
us  go  to  Calvary  !  "  expired  Wednesday,  September 
26,  at  noon.  Eminently  an  untiring  missionarj'-,  he 
died  in  the  midst  of  his  labors  for  the  salvation  of 
souls. 

The  venerable  pioneer  priest  Rev.  Gabriel  Richard 
had  preceded  him  to  the  tomb,  dying  also  of  cholera 
on  the  13th,  at  Detroit,  fortified  by  all  the  sacraments 
of  the  Church.^ 

The  remains  of  Bishop  Fenwick  were  brought  from 
Wooster  by  the  charity  of  a  convert,  and  after  a 
solemn  mass  of  requiem  they  were  deposited  in  the 
vault  under  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  Cincinnati,  on  the 
11th  of  February,  1833.^ 

'  Catholic  Telegraph,  i.,pp.  391,  406,  414;  ii.,  p.  85.  U.  S.  Cath.  Mis- 
cellany, xii.,  p.  151  ;  Mazzuchelli,  pp.  81-3  ;  Hammer,  "  Der  Apostel  von 
Ohio,"  p.  142.  Marty,  "Dr.  Johann  Martin  Henni,"  p. 57.  Annales  de 
la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  vi.,  pp.  197,  133,  143. 

Catholic  Telegraph,  i.,  p.  127.* 


DIOCESE  OF  CINCINNATI.  617 

V.  REV.  FREDERIC  RESE. 
ADMINISTRATOR,  1832-33. 

Ox  the  death  of  Rt.  Rev.  Edward  Dominic  P^enwick, 
the  administration  of  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati  de- 
volved on  the  active  missionary  priest,  V.  Rev.  Edward 
Rese,  who  had  labored  so  earnestly  among  his  coun- 
trymen in  the  diocese,  and  been  instrumental  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Leopoldine  Association,  whose 
alms  have  fostered  so  many  German  missions.  The 
Sovereign  Pontiff  granted  to  him,  though  not  a  Vicar- 
Capitular,  all  the  faculties  enjoyed  by  the  late  Bishop, 
except  those  which  required  the  episcopal  character. 

The  church  at  Rehoboth  was  dedicated  in  Januaiy, 


^^. 


SIGNATURE   OF  V.   KEV.    FREDERIC  RESE. 

and  about  the  same  time  Bishop  Rosati  visited  Cin- 
cinnati to  administer  confirmation  and  confer  holy 
orders.^ 

By  the  month  of  May  intelligence  arrived  that  the 
Rev.  John  Baptist  Purcell,  president  of  Mount  St. 
Mary's  College,  had  been  elected  Bishop  of  Cincinnati, 
and  that  Michigan  and  Northwest  Territory,  which 
had  been  temporarily  placed  under  the  care  of  Bishop 
Fenwick,  were  erected  into  the  diocese  of  Detroit,  Very 
Rev.  Frederic  Rese  being  elected  to  this  new  see. 

Very  Rev.  Mr.  Rese,  acting  by  the  advice  of  Bishop 
Rosati,  began  to  organize  the  German  Catholics  of 
Cincinnati  into  a  separate  congregation,  hojDing  for  a 

'  Cardinal  Pedicini  to  V.  Rev.  F.  Rese,  Dec.  23,  1832.  Catholic  Tele- 
graph, i.,  p.  406;  ii.,  p.  222.     U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xii.,  pp.  246-286. 


618       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

time  to  be  able  to  use  the  Cathedral  for  them,  but,  as 
strong  opposition  was  manifested,  the  German  Catho- 
lics prepared  to  erect  at  once  a  church  for  themselves, 
and  secured  a  site  on  Fifth  Street,  between  Smith  and 
Park  streets. 

Daring  this  time  Rev.  Mr.  McGrady  completed  the 
brick  church  at  Steubenville,  and  Rev.  Edmund  Quinn 
a  similar  one  at  TifSn.  A  German  and  an  English 
school  were  opened  in  Cincinnati,  under  the  direction 
of  seminarians.^ 

'Die  Katholischen  Kirchen,  Kloster,  etc.,  p.  11 ;  Very  Rev.  F.  Rese, 
Dec.  24,  1833.     Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  vi.,  p.  198,  etc. 


/^^^^^ 


Ct^p^^ 


SIGNATURE  OF  RT,    REV.   JOHN  B.    PURCELL,   BISHOP  OF  CINCINNATI. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

DIOCESE  OF  CINCINNATI. 

RT.  EEV.  JOHN  BAPTIST  PURCELL,  SECOND  BISHOP,  1834-1843. 

For  the  see  of  Cincinnati,  as  successor  to  Bishop 
Fenwick,  the  Rev.  Father  Peter  Kenney,  S.  J.,  Rev. 
John  B.  Purcell,  and  Rev.  John  Hughes  were  recom- 
mended.    The  choice  fell  on  Rev.  Mr.  Purcell,  then 
president  of  Mount  St.  Mary's  College,  and  this  selec- 
tion was  announced  in  this  country.     His  appointment 
was  delayed  for  a  time,  as  it  was  represented  that  he 
was  too  young  to  assume  the  burden.     Bishop  Eng- 
land, whose  advice  was  solicited,  urged  his  appoint- 
ment.^   His  bulls  were  accordingly  issued,  and  the  day 
for  his  consecration  was  fixed  for  the  13th  of  October, 
1833,  just  before  the  assembling  of  the  Provincial  Coun- 
cil.    He  was  consecrated  on  that  day  by  the  Most  Rev. 
James   Whitfield,    Archbishop    of   Baltimore,  in  his 
Cathedra],  assisted  by  Bishops  Du  Bois  of  New  York 
and  Kenrick  of  Arath,  the  recently  consecrated  Bishop 
of  Detroit,  Dr.  Rese  being  also  present.     The  sermon 
on  the  occasion  was  preached  by  Rev.  Dr.  Eccleston. 
Bishop  Purcell  then  took  his  place  in  the  Council  and 
shared  in  its  deliberations.     At  the  close  of  the  Coun- 
cil he  proceeded  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  arrived  on 
the  14th  of  November,  and  was  duly  installed  by  the 
venerable   Bishop   Flaget,  who   had  consecrated  and 

'England,  '  Osservazioni  del  Vescovo  di  Charleston  intorno  alia  ele- 
zione  del  Vescovo  di  Cincinnati."  Houck,  "  The  Church  in  Northern 
Ohio,"  p.  17. 

619 


620       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

installed  his  predecessor.  In  his  pastoral  letter,  Dr. 
Purcell  expatiated  on  the  virtues  of  Bishoi:)  Fenwick, 
and  on  the  good  that  he  had  accomplished  in  Ohio, 
but  he  urged  his  flock  in  future  to  place  little  depen- 
dence on  aid  from  Europe,  and  to  rely  rather  on 
themselves.  He  exhorted  Catholics  where  there  was 
no  church  to  set  to  work  to  erect  one,  and  meanwhile 
to  gather  together  and  supply  by  prayer  and  pious 
reading  for  the  great  sacrilice  of  which  they  were 
deprived.^  The  diocese  of  Cincinnati,  embracing  at 
this  time  the  State  of  Ohio,  contained  about  thirty 
thousand  Catholics,  who  had  nine  brick  and  eight 
wooden  churches,  attended  by  seventeen  priests.  * 
After  issuing  a  Lenten  pastoral,  in  1834  Bishop  Pur- 
cell began  a  visitation  of  his  diocese.  At  Portsmouth 
he  found  twenty  Catholic  families,  visited  occasionally 
by  a  priest  from  Cincinnati  ;  but  in  and  near  it,  and 
in  Franklin  County,  including  men  working  on  the 
canal,  there  were  about  two  hundred  communicants, 
Irish  and  Germans ;  Columbus  had  about  eighty 
Catholics,  similarly  unprovided ;  Lancaster  had  a 
little  wooden  chapel,  attended  from  Somerset.  The 
Dominican  Fathers  had  labored  zealously.  Rev.  Joseph 
O'Learj',  Avho  had  recently  died,  having  erected  two 
churches  within  two  years.  Zanesville  had  a  church, 
and  a  priest  who  ministered  to  a  flock  of  six  hundred 
in  the  town  and  missions.  Canton,  with  its  stations, 
including  Beechland,  ready  to  build  a  church. 
Moregg  with  its  little  chapel  of  St.  Fidelis  of  Sig- 
maringen,  proto-martyr  of  the  Propaganda,  had  about 
two  thousand  communicants.  Fulton  had  a  small 
wooden   church.     The   Redemptorist   Father   F.    X. 

'Catholic  Telegraph,   ii.,   pp.  5-9;   Concilia  Proviucialia  Baltimori 
habita,"  Baltimore,  1842,  p.  92. 


REDEMPTORISTS.  621 

Tsclienhens  who  had  been  laboring  in  Ohio  with  Fath- 
ers Hatscher  and  Czakert  of  the  same  order,  built 
Blessed  Alphonsns  Church  at  Peru,  and  visited  the 
Catholics  for  thirty  or  forty  miles  around.  It  had 
been  the  Bishop's  plan  that  the  Redemptorist  Fathers 
should  take  charge  of  a  large  district  and  meet  the 
wants  of  the  faithful,  as  the  population  increased  ;  but 
the  spirit  of  the  congregation  at  Peru  was  so  bad  that 
the  good  priests  received  only  insult  and  abuse.  They 
hnallv  withdrew  to  Pittsburg,  in  1839. 

Rev.  Edmund  Quinn  had  charge  for  several  years 
of  all  the  stations  and  missions  in  Northern  Ohio,  and 
erected  St.  Mary's  Church  at  Tiffin. 

Bishop  Purcell  returned  to  find  the  cholera  making 
o-reat  ravages  among  the  Catholics  in  Cincinnati,  and 
especially  the  Germans,  so  that  he  summoned  Rev. 
John  M.  Henni  to  their  assistance.     After  his  return 
the  Bishop  began  his  course  of  theology  to  the  semi- 
narians and  assumed  personal  direction  of  the  Athe- 
naeum, as  president,  securing  teachers  to  give  it  effic- 
iency and  influence  on  its  opening.^     About  this  time 
(1833)  log  churches  rose  at  Glandorf,  Bethlehem,  and 
New  Rieo-el  in  Northern  Ohio,  sufficient  to  gather  the 
faithful  together,  and  afford  a  place  to  instruct  the 
children.     Bishop   Purcell    encouraged    the   German 
Catholics  in  Cincinnati  to  persevere  in  their  project 
of  erecting  a  separate  church,  and  when  their  Church 
of  the  Holy  Trinity  was  ready  for  divine  service,  he 
dedicated  it  on  the  8th  of  October,  1834.     It  was  sixty 
feet  wide  by  one  hundred  and  twenty  in  depth,  with  a 

'  Henny,  "  Ein  Blick  in's  Thai  des  Ohio,"  Munchen,  1836  pp  73-81 
Bergcr,  •'  Life  of  Right  Rev.  John  N.  Newmann     New  ^oi-k    1884    p. 
326      Catholic  Telegraph,  v.,  p.  60.     Annales  de  la  P-iy|e  la  Foi  8 
p  336      "  Berichte  der  Leopoldiaen-Stiftung,"  Vienna,  1834.  yu.,  p.  25. 
Ilouck.  "  The  Church  in  Northern  Ohio,"  pp.  11,  14,  152. 


622      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

good,  basement  for  a  school.  It  was  the  first  German 
church  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  The  pastor  of  the 
congregation  was  the  Rev,  Martin  Kundig.  German 
Catholics  preferring  the  rural  districts  and  agricultural 
employment  to  city  life,  had  settled  largely  in  the 
interior  of  Pennsylvania,  and  were  among  the  first 
Catholic  settlers  in  Ohio  who  welcomed  Bishop  Flaget 
and  Father  Fenwick.  As  Rev.  Mr.  Kundig  accom- 
panied Bishop  Rese  to  Detroit,  Bishop  Purcell  called 
Rev.  John  M.  Henni,  from  Canton,  to  become  pastor 
of  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  The  new  church 
stood  near  an  ancient  Indian  mound,  not  improbably 
the  scene  of  many  religious  rites  of  aboriginal  hea- 
thendom. Bishop  Flaget,  who  took  part  in  the  dedica- 
tion ceremonies,  in  his  address  of  congratulation  to 
the  congregation,  recalled  the  fact  that  when  forty- 
three  years  before  he  passed  the  spot  where  Cincinnati 
was  now  so  great  and  prosperous  a  city,  there  was  not 
a  brick  house  erected.^ 

Immigration  by  this  time  was  centering  in  Ohio, 
and  it  needed  constant  effort  to  afford  the  Catholic 
portion  facilities  for  practicing  their  religious  duties. 
Bishop  Purcell  did  not  spare  himself.  He  renewed 
his  visitations  in  1834,  amid  snow  and  ice,  and  was 
gratified  by  the  zeal  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Horstmann  on 
the  Anglaise  in  Putnam  County  and  by  the  exertions 
to  endow  Dayton  with  a  church.  In  July,  he  dedi- 
cated that  founded  at  Steubenville  by  Rev.  Mr.  McGra- 
dy  ;  visited  the  little  chapel  erected  at  Urbana  by  the 


'  Houck,  "The  Church  in  Northern  Ohio,"  p.  17;  Henny,  "  Ein 
Blick  in's  Thai  des  Ohio,"  Miinchen,  1836,  p.  72  ;  Marty,  "  Dr.  Johann 
Martin  Henni,"  p.  62  ;  "  Katolischen  Kirchen,  Kloster,  Kapellen,"  p.  14. 
Bishop  Purcell,  Aug.  30,  1834,  in  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  viii.,  p. 
335  ;  same,  Oct.  1,  1834,  in  "  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen-Stiftung,"  ix  , 
p.  9  ;  Rev.  J.  M.  Henni,  lb.,  p.  14. 


BIBLE  QUESTION.  623 

Piatt  family,  which  was  attended  from  Dayton.  St. 
Martin's,  Brown  County,  was  a  church  erected  by  Rev. 
Martin  Kundig,  and  the  school  was  due  to  Rev.  J. 
Reid.^ 

Convinced  of  the  importance  and  necessity  of  an 
institution  for  training  young  men  for  the  priesthood 
in  his  own  diocese.  Bishop  Purcell  soon  organized  a 
Seminary  Fund  Association,  the  members  of  which,  by 
a  small  annual  subscription,  would  furnish  the  means 
for  maintaining  the  institution  and  educating  semi- 
narians. 

He  was  thus  building  solidly  on  the  foundations  laid 
by  his  predecessor,  seminary  and  college,  church  and 
school,  as  well  as  charitable  institutions.  Seeing  the 
necessity  of  using  the  press  to  diffuse  a  knowledge  of 
Catholic  truth,  he  sought  to  improve  the  Catholic  Tele- 
graph and  formed  plans  for  a  systematic  diffusion  of 
good  books. 

In  the  early  part  of  November,  1835,  he  descended 
to  New  Orleans  to  assist  at  the  consecration  of  Rt. 
Rev.  Anthony  Blanc,  Bishop  of  that  see.^ 

In  1836,  The  Young  Men's  Bible  Society  of  Cincin- 
nati, with  more  zeal  than  regard  for  truth,  accused 
the  Catholic  Church  with  withholding  the  Scriptures 
from  the  people.  Bishop  Purcell,  in  a  card,  not  only 
offered  to  contribute,  if  they  would  circulate  among 
Catholics  the  Douay  Bible  and  Allioli's  German  Bible, 
but  pledged  himself  to  go,  if  necessary,  from  door  to 
door  and  leave  a  copy  with  every  Roman  Catholic  fam- 


'  Catholic  Telegraph,  iii..  pp.  81,  246-365  ;  iv.,  pp.  316-375.  Jesuit, 
v.,  p.  335.    Henny,  "  Eia  Blick,"  pp.  81-4. 

'■'Bishop  Purcell  in  "  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen-Stiftung,"  Jan.  31, 
1836,  X.,  p.  13 ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  v.,  p.  60  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany, 
XV.,  pp.  78,  182. 


624       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

ily  destitute  of  a  Bible.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
liis  offer  was  not  accepted. 

The  next  year  Rev.  John  Martin  Henni  established 
"Der  Wahrheit's  Freund,"  "The  Friend  of  Truth," 
a  German  paper  which  subsists  to  this  day,  after 
advocating  Catholicity  for  half  a  century  and  more.^ 

The  same  year  the  Ohio  College  of  Teachers  went 
still  further,  as  if  the  teachers  felt  it  necessary,  by  their 
attacks  on  the  Catholic  Church,  to  show  that  State 
education  was  hostile  to  her.  Bishop  Purcell  asked 
leave  to  reply  to  their  strictures,  but  as  rules  of  the 
college  prevented  this,  he  refuted  their  assertions  in  a 
lecture  delivered  at  a  Protestant  church.  Such  was 
the  effect  of  this,  that  Rev.  Alexander  Campbell, 
founder  of  a  sect,  a  division  of  Presbyterians,  felt  it 
necessary  to  defend  Protestantism,  and  challenged  any 
one  in  the  Catholic  ranks  to  meet  him.  Bishop  Pur- 
cell, though  averse  to  controversj'',  accepted  the  chal- 
lenge. The  Bishop  and  his  antagonist  met  in  a  Bap- 
tist church,  January  11,  1837.  The  discussion  lasted 
eight  days.  The  newspapers  in  Cincinnati  conceded 
that  Mr.  Campbell's  effort  was  "a  grand  failure," 
that  he  failed  to  accomplish  his  "  vain  boast  of  being 
able  to  demolish  the  Catholic  religion."  It  was  openly 
stated  that  "  Protestantism  gained  nothing  in  the  con- 
test, and  that  Catholicism  suffered  nothing,"  and  that 
the  Catholic  Cliurch  gained  by  having  thousands  hear 
the  arguments  in  her  favor. 

The  abilit}^  of  Bishop  Purcell  as  a  controversialist 
was  fully  recognized,  and  the  controversy,  which  soon 
appeared  in  book  form,  was  widely  circulated   and, 

'  Boston  Pilot,  ii.,  June  4,  1836.  A  reduced  copy  of  the  front  page  of 
the  first  number  of  the  Wahrlieit's  Freund  is  given  in  Marty's  Henni,  p. 
119  ;  Bishop  Purcell,  Letter,  Jan.  31,  1836.  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen- 
Stiftung,  X.,  p.  13  ;  xii.,  p.  60. 


IN  EUROPE.  625 

reaching  many  from  whom  every  ray  of  Catholic  truth 
had  been  excluded,  led  to  frequent  conversions. 

Bishop  Purcell  attended  the  third  Council  of  Balti- 
more in  April,  1837,  and  soon  after  laid  the  corner- 
stone of  a  church  at  Fayette ville,  and  was  gratified  to 
see  near  that  place  little  communities  of  German  and 
French  Catholics  erecting  temporary  chapels.  Rev. 
H.  D.  Juncker  completed  St.  Mary's  Church,  Chilli- 
cothe,  which  was  dedicated  by  the  Bishop.  The  next 
year  the  same  energetic  priest  completed  a  church 
in  Columbus,  the  capital  of  the  State,  and  future 
see  of  a  bishop.  It  was  dedicated  by  Rev.  Stephen 
T.  Badin.  About  this  time  Rev.  Mr.  Henni  formed 
the  German  Catholic  Orphan  Society  of  St.  Aloysius, 
and  an  asylum  was  soon  erected. 

In  May,  1838,  Bishop  Purcell  resolved  to  visit  Europe 
for  affairs  of  his  diocese,  and  committed  the  adminis- 
tration, during  his  absence,  to  his  Vicar-General  V. 
Rev.  John  M.  Henni  and  Edward  T.  Collins.  He 
arrived  in  Liverpool  early  in  July,  and  extended  his 
visits  to  Ireland  and  Belgium.  In  the  former  country 
he  found  that  a  strong  prejudice  had  been  created 
against  the  United  States  by  Bishop  Clancy,  who 
denounced  this  republic  in  unmeasured  terms  at  many 
X)laces.  In  an  address  at  Mallow,  Bishop  Purcell 
answered  his  sweeping  charges  and  showed  that  our 
government  and  people  at  large  were  not  responsible 
for  the  acts  of  a  few  misled  and  misguided  men  at 
Charlestown  or  Burlington.^ 

In  a  letter  to  the  Leopold  Association,  which  had 
contributed  generously   to   the   advancement   of  the 

>  Catholic  Telegraph,  Jan.  26,  1837  ;  Catholic  Herald,  v.,  p.  44,  247- 
317  ;  vi.,  p.  391  ;  Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  p.  118,  291 ;  Truth  Teller,  xiv., 
p.  386.  Dr.  Clancy  issued  a  reply  to  Bishop  Purcell,  Truth  Teller,  xiv., 
p,  358. 


626       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

faith  in  Ohio,  he  states  that  he  had  thirty  priests,  ten 
Germans,  six  Americans,  the  rest  French  and  Irish. 
He  had  thirteen  students  in  philosophy  and  theology 
at  his  seminary.  His  churches  numbered  thirty-five, 
most  of  them  poor  and  rough.  He  had  parochial 
schools  at  Cincinnati,  Sisters  of  Charity  teaching  and 
directing  a  girls'  orphan  asylum,  but  one  for  boys  was 
sorely  needed.^ 

The  necessity  of  circulating  small  Catholic  works 
among  the  faithful  to  keep  alive  the  truths  of  religion 
and  her  moral  teachings  induced  Bishop  Purcell  to 
establish,  in  1840,  the  "Catholic  Society  for  the 
Diffusion  of  Knowledge."  The  objects  of  the  society 
are,  "First,  to  sustain  the  Catholic  Telegraph;  and 
secondly,  to  diffuse  a  correct  and  just  knowledge  of 
Catholic  doctrine,  by  printing  and  circulating  approved 
works  of  piety  and  controversy."  It  soon  began  to 
issue  publications,  but  did  not  long  continue.^ 

Meanwhile  the  Catholic  body  grew  and  churches 
were  needed.  Taylorsville  soon  had  one,  and  in 
1838  Rev.  Patrick  O'Dwyer,  who  had  been  sent  to 
Cleveland  the  year  before,  began  the  Church  of  Our 
Lady  of  the  Lake.  On  the  5th  of  June,  1840,  Bishop 
Purcell,  accompanied  by  Bishop  Forbin  Janson  of 
Nancj^  and  Toul,  after  attending  the  sessions  of  the 
Fourth  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  sailed  in  a 
steamer  from  Buffalo  for  Cleveland,  but  encountered 
a  fearful  storm,  during  which  the  Bishop  of  Nancy 
was   once  in  imminent  peril.      They  finally  reached 

'  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen-Stlftung,  xii.,  p.  59. 

'  Catholic  Register,  1.,  p.  141 ;  Truth  Teller,  xvi.,  p.  78.  Such  a  society 
was  all  the  more  necessary,  as  after  the  publication  of  Miss  Reed's  and 
the  Maria  Monk  book  the  country  was  deluged  with  even  more  revolting 
works,  and  newspapers  like  the  "  Downfall  of  Babylon  "  were  issued  to 
propagate  the  grossest  falsehoods. 


MOTHER  ANGELA  SANSBURY.  627 

Cleveland,  and  the  church  erected  by  Rev.  Peter  Mc- 
Laughlin, on  the  "Flats,"  was  dedicated  by  Mgr. 
Forbin  Janson,  Bishop  Purcell  preaching.  It  stood 
on  Columbus  Street,  to  accommodate  the  two  congre- 
gations of  Cleveland  and  Ohio  City,  and  was  fifty- 
three  feet  in  width  by  eighty-one  in  depth  ;  the  front, 
with  four  Doric  columns,  presenting  a  fair  appear- 
ance. Such  was  the  commencement  of  Catholicity  in  a 
future  see.^ 

On  the  30th  of  November,  1839,  died  piously,  at  St. 
Mary's  Seminary,  Somerset,  Ohio,  in  her  44th  year, 
Mother  Angela  (Mary)  Sansbury,  who,  with  Miss  Mary 
Carrico,  founded  the  community  of  Sisters  of  the  Third 
Order  of  St.  Dominic,  near  Springfield,  Kentucky, 
under  the  direction  of  Father  Thomas  Wilson,  O.P. 
The  little  community  grew  slowly,  but  did  much  for 
education  and  charity,  and  the  Sisters  displayed  hero- 
ism during  the  seasons  of  cholera.  In  January,  1830, 
at  the  instance  of  Bishop  Fenwick,  a  convent  of  this 
order,  St.  Magdalen's,  was  founded  at  Somerset,  Ohio. 
Though  not  one  of  the  original  colony  at  St.  Magda- 
len's, Mother  Angela  soon  joined  them  and,  becoming 
Superior,  made  it  a  prosperous  community,  sending 
out  vigorous  branches  and  directing  successful  acade- 
mies. She  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  but  her  parents, 
emigrating  to  Kentucky,  soon  left  her  orphan.  Her 
mind  at  an  early  age  turned  to  the  religious  state,  and 
her  life  was  one  devoted  to  God  and  her  neighbor. 
She  was  prudent  and  energetic,  fitted  for  the  guidance 
of  others,  yet  thoroughly  humble  and  solidly  pious. 
Her  death  followed  a  short  illness,  borne  with  calm 
resignation  and  peace.  ^ 

'  Catholic  Register,  i.,  p.  326  ;  Houck,  "  Churches  in  Northern  Ohio," 
pp.  14-15. 

'  Metropolitan,  1856,  p.  534 ;  Letter  of  Prioress  of  St.  Mary's,  Ohio, 
July  25,  1856  ;  Catholic  Herald,  vii.,  p.  405. 


628       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

In  1840,  Rev.  Projectus  J.  Macheboeuf  became  the 
first  resident  pastor  of  Sandusky  ;  and  Rev,  Araadeus 
Rappe  and  Louis  de  Goesbriand  reached  Ohio  as  mis- 
sionary priests,  the  former  to  labor  at  Chillicothe  and 
Toledo,  the  latter  to  begin  his  work  at  Louisville,  and 
all,  in  time,  to  take  their  place  in  the  hierarchy/ 

The  Bishop  of  Cincinnati  felt  that  with  the  cares 
resulting  from  the  growth  of  the  diocese,  he  could  not 
well  himself  sustain  the  Athenaeum  and  build  up  a 
worthy  college ;  he  therefore  resolved  to  invite  some 
religious  order  to  undertake  the  task.  The  Fathers 
of  the  Missouri  Mission  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  to  his 
relief,  accepted  his  offers.  The  Athengeum  was  trans- 
ferred to  them  in  1840,  and  Rev.  J.  A.  Elet  came  as 
first  iDresident,  with  a  body  of  professors,  and  it  re- 
ojDened  in  October  under  the  name  of  St.  Xavier  Col- 
lege. It  was  chartered  by  the  General  Assembly  oi 
Ohio  in  1869. " 

In  his  visit  to  Belgium,  Bishop  Purcell  had  been 
greatly  impressed  by  the  methods  of  teaching  and 
training  employed  by  the  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,  a 
community  founded  by  Mother  Julia  Billiart,  at 
Namur,  and  applied  for  a  colony  of  Sisters  to  found  a 
house  in  his  diocese.  Eight  members,  Sister  Louise 
Gonzague  being  Superior,  accordingly  embarked  at 
Antwerp  in  September,  1840,  and,  reaching  Cincinnati, 
were  soon  installed  in  a  house  opposite  the  Cathedral. 
They  at  once  began  to  prepare  to  open  an  academy, 
and  did  so  in  January.^ 

'  Houck,  "  Church  in  Northern  Ohio,"  p.  14. 

^  "Woodstock  Letters,  v.,  p.  115  ;  Hill,  "  Historical  Sketch  of  St.  Louis 
University,"  p.  61. 

^Life  of  Rev.  Mother  Julia,  Foundress  and  first  Superior  of  the  Sisters 
of  Notre  Dame  of  Namur.  New  York,  1871,  p.  292-300.  The  foundress 
was  born  at  Cuvilly,  in  Picardy,  July  12,  1751.     An  attempt  on  her 


CONDITION  IN  1843.  629 

Meanwhile,  the  Catholic  x)opulation  of  the  State 
increased  steadily,  and  the  churches  and  institu- 
tions were  very  inadequate.  St.  Mary's  Church,  for 
the  Germans  in  Cincinnati,  was  dedicated  with  jjomp 
in  July,  1842 ;  another  German  church,  about  the 
same  time,  at  Zanesville,  was  erected  by  Rev.  H.  D. 
Juncker.^ 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1843  the  diocese  of  Cincin- 
nati contained  fifty-five  churches,  some  poor  enough, 
with  fifteen  others  in  course  of  erection  ;  it  had  forty- 
two  priests  on  the  mission,  and  twelve  otherwise  en- 
gaged. The  diocesan  seminary,  removed  to  Brown 
County,  was  directed  by  priests  of  the  Congregation 
of  the  Mission,  and  contained  twelve  students,  and 
several  others  were  at  St.  Xavier's  College.  That 
institution  was  prospering,  as  was  the  Dominican  Con- 
vent in  Perry  County.  The  Dominican  Sisters  had 
their  academy  at  Somerset,  and  the  Sisters  of  Notre 
Dame  were  prospering  at  Cincinnati.  There  were 
schools  in  operation  for  children  of  both  sexes  there. 
That  city  had  by  this  time  two  orphan  asylums.  The 
population  of  the  diocese  was  estimated  at  fifty  thou- 
sand. There  were  1156  Catholic  baptisms  in  Cincin- 
nati in  1843,  315  marriages,  and  457  deaths.^ 

father's  life  in  1774  brought  on  a  series  of  maladies  which  lasted  thirty 
years,  and  for  twenty-two  she  was  unable  to  leave  her  couch.  During 
the  French  Revolution  she  and  M'lle  Blin  formed  a  Jit  tie  community  and 
began  instructing  women  and  children.  When  peace  returned  they 
adopted  a  rule,  under  the  guidance  of  Rev.  Father  Varin,  which  received 
the  approval  of  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  Mother  Julia  miraculously  recov- 
ered her  health  in  1804,  and  died  January  14,  1816. 

'  Catholic  Herald,  x.,  pp.  156,  204,  226. 

'Bishop  Purcell,  in  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen-Stiftung,  xii.,p.  59,  and 
U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  iii.,  p.  134. 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

DIOCESE  OF  DETROIT. 

RT.  REV.  FREDERIC  RESE,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1833-1837. 

Before  erecting  tlie  see  of  Detroit,  the  Congrega- 
tion de  Propaganda  Fide  addressed  Bishop  Fen  wick, 
ill  order  to  ascertain  what  revenues  there  were  that 
would  be  applied  to  the  maintenance  of  a  bishop. 
"  The  Sacred  Congregation  has  constantly  before  its 
eyes  the  evils  which  the  Church  suffers  in  those  States 
from  the  course  of  action  pursued  by  trustees."  ^ 

The  first  candidate  proposed  for  the  new  see  was  the 
venerable  Rev.  Gabriel  Richard,  who  had  done  so 
much  to  revive  religion  in  Michigan.  For  denouncing 
the  bigamous  conduct  of  a  miserable  wretch,  who, 
abandoning  a  wife  in  Canada,  married  another  in  De- 
troit, Rev.  Mr.  Richard  was  sued  and  prosecuted. 
Courts,  ready  to  condemn  a  Catholic  priest,  decided 
against  Rev.  Mr.  Richard,  and  enemies  whom  his  ad- 
herence to  the  rules  of  the  Church  had  raised  up,  made 
his  condemnation  a  ground  why  the  authorities  of  the 
Church  should  not  appoint  him  Bishop  of  Detroit. 
The  arrest  of  Rev.  Mr.  Richard  is  one  of  his  titles  to 
renown. 

The  selection  for  first  Bishop  of  Detroit  fell  finally 
on  Rev  Frederic  Rese,  whose  active  labors  among  the 
German  Catholics  in  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati,  and 
whose  part  in  prompting  the   establishment  of  the 

'  Cardinal  Somaglia  to  Bishop  Edward  D.  Fenwick,  July  1,  1836 

630 


RT.    REV.    FREDERICK   IlESE,    BISHOP   OF   DETROIT. 


631 


THE  LEOPOLD  ASSOCIATION.  633 

Leopoldinen-Stiftung,  or  Association  for  Aiding  Mis- 
sions, had  brought  into  prominence. 

Gregory  XVI.  erected  the  see  of  Detroit  by  his  bull, 
"  Maximas  inter  gravissimasque  curas,"  March  8, 1833, 
making  the  Bishop  a  suffragan  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Baltimore.  The  diocese  embraced  the  State  of  Michi- 
gan and  Northwest  Territory,  which  had  liitherto  been 
administered  by  the  Bishop  of  Cincinnati.^ 

Tlie  district  watered  by  tlie  four  great  lakes,  Supe- 
rior, Michigan,  Huron,  and  Erie,  and  in  which  Fathers 
Jogues  and  Raymbault  first  planted  the  cross  of  Catho- 
licity in  1642,  in  which  Fathers  Menard  and  Delhalle 
died  by  the  hands  of  the  red  men,  where  Allouez,  and 
Marquette,  Lefranc  and  Dujaunay  labored,  was  thus 
erected  into  a  diocese.  The  churches  at  Detroit, 
Northeast  and  Raisin  River,  Mackinaw,  Sault  Ste. 
Marie,  and  Green  Bay,  had  their  history.  The  diocese 
embraced,  next  to  Illinois,  the  oldest  Catholic  district 
in  the  West.  The  faithful  were  still  mainly  of  French 
origin,  few  of  other  nationalities  having  settled  per- 
manently there. 

This  district  had  been  placed  under  the  care  of 
Bishop  Flaget,  of  Bardstown,  and  subsequently  of 
Bishop  Fenwick,  both  of  whom  had  labored  earnestly 
for  its  good,  so  far  as  their  means  and  other  duties 
permitted.  Order  had  been  introduced  at  Detroit, 
Monroe,  Mackinac,  and  missions  revived  for  Indians 
and  half-breeds  among  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Pot- 
tawatomies,    Menominees    and   Winnebagoes.      Rev. 

'  BuUarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  xv. ,  pp.  89,  90.  Cardinal  Pedicini  to 
Eev.  F.  Rese,  May  18,  1833.  Cardinal  Capellari  to  Rev.  F.  Rese,  Feb. 
14,  1839,  expressing  his  gratification  at  the  establishment  of  the  Leopold- 
inen-Stiftung, stating  that  Pope  Leo  XII.  was  highly  pleased,  and 
granted  the  members  of  the  Association  many  indulgences  by  his  brief 
of  Jan.  30,  1829. 


634       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Frederic  Rese  had  visited  the  whole  district  as  Vicar- 
Geuei-al  and  Administrator  and  was  fully  aware  of  its 
condition. 

He  was  born  at  Weinenburg,  Hanover,  in  1791,  and 
when  just  of  age  was  drafted  into  the  army  and  served 
in  the  cavalry  in  the  wars  against  the  French.  But 
his  inclinations  were  religious,  and  he  obtained  admis- 
sion into  the  College  of  the  Propaganda,  and  served 
the  lirst  mass  of  the  future  x^ontiff  Pius  IX.  After  his 
ordination  he  was  sent  on  the  African  mission,  but  his 
health  failed  and  he  returned  to  Rome.  There  he 
offered  his  services  to  Bishop  Fenwick,  and  was  joy- 
fully accepted.  His  labors  in  the  diocese  of  Cincinnati, 
especially  among  his  fellow-countrymen  and  the  In- 
dians, his  zeal  and  talents  were  soon  recognized.  On 
receiving  his  bulls,  he  requested  Bishop  Rosati  of  St. 
Louis  to  officiate,  and  he  was  duly  consecrated  by  that 
prelate  in  St.  Peter's  Cathedral,  Cincinnati,  on  the  3d 
of  October,  1833.  He  proceeded  immediately  to  Balti- 
more to  attend  the  second  Provincial  Council,  the  first 
session  of  which  was  held  on  the  20th  of  that  month. 
After  the  council  he  was  duly  installed  (January  7, 
1834)  in  St.  Anne's  Church,  Detroit,  which  became  his 
Cathedral. 

He  was  assisted  there  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Vincent  Bad- 
in,  Kundig,  and  Bonduel :  Rev.  Mr.  Carabin  was  at 
Monroe  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Kelly  at  Ann  Arbor  ;  Rev.  Mr. 
Lastrie  at  Mackinac,  Rev.  Mr.  Viszosky  on  St.  Clair 
River  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Boheme  at  St.  Paul.  Rev.  S.  T.  Badin 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Desseille  attended  the  Pottawatomies 
at  St.  Joseph's  ;  the  Redemptorist  Father  Sand erl, the 
Ottawas  at  Arbre  Croche  ;  Rev.  F.  Baraga,  those  at 
Grand  River  ;  Rev.  S.  Mazzuchelli,  O.P.,  was  laboring 
among  the  Winnebagoes  in  Wisconsin  ;  and  the  Rev. 
F.  Hatscher,  C.SS.R.,  was  at  Green  Bay,  ministering 


ACTIVE  PROGRESS.  635 

to  whites  and  Menominees.  There  were  no  insti- 
tutions in  the  diocese  except  an  academy  just  opened 
at  Detroit  by  tlie  Poor  Clares  from  Belgium,  over 
whom,  and  those  at  Pittsburgh,  Bishop  Rese  had  re- 
ceived the  powers  of  Provincial  ;  there  were  also 
schools  for  girls  at  the  Indian  missions.' 

Bishop  Rese  completed  and  adorned  the  interior  of 
his  cathedral  and  obtained  vestments  and  plate  from 
Vienna.  He  continued  to  reside  in  the  old  parish 
house,  with  his  clergy,  and  soon  began  a  little  diocesan 
seminary  tliere,  with  four  students.  The  female  Acad- 
emy of  the  Poor  Clares  could  boasfc  of  a  hundred 
scholars,  twenty  of  them  boarders.  They  soon  sent 
Sisters  to  take  charge  of  the  school  at  Green  Bay. 
St.  Anne's  Church  being  insufficient  for  the  Catholic 
congregation,  a  frame  church  at  Michigan  Avenue  and 
Bates  Street,  erected  by  the  First  Protestant  Society, 
was  purchased  in  August,  1834,  and  after  necessary 
alterations  became,,  by  the  Bislioj)'s  dedication  June 
14,  1835,  the  German  Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity. 

The  energetic  Bishop  proposed  to  establish,  at  once, 
a  seminary  and  college,  as  well  as  to  provide  better 
accommodations  for  the  cathedral  clergy. 

In  July  he  set  out  to  make  his  visitation  of  the 
churches  and  stations  in  the  north  and  west,  and  to  ad- 
minister confirmation.  He  was  much  encouraged  by 
the  evident  progress,  but  soon  after  there  came  an  evi- 
dence that  the  hostile  spirit  then  pervading  the  country 
had  reached  the  old  Catholic  Northwest.  The  church 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie  was  soon  after  robbed  of  all  the 
valuable  plate  and  ornaments,  the  missal  and  other 
books  being  torn  to  fragments.  The  church  itself  was 
soon  after  set  on  fire. 

'  Clarke,  "  Lives  of  Deceased  Bishops,"  New  York,  1888,  p.  266,  etc.; 
Catholic  Almanac  (Myers),  1834,  pp.  56,  122. 


636       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Till  lie  could  establish  a  college  Bishop  Rese  opened 
a  high  school  in  a  suitable  building  near  the  Cathedral, 
with  Rev.  Mr.  O'Cavanagh  as  president.  In  the  course 
of  the  year  1836  he  began  a  four-story  building,  adjoin- 
ing St.  Anne's  Cathedral,  to  be  used  partly  as  a  resi- 
dence, and  in  part  for  the  diocesan  seminary.^ 

But  by  this  time  difficulties  which  had  arisen  took 
a  serious  form.  The  Abbess  of  the  Poor  Clares,  Mother 
Frances  Van  de  Voghel,  and  the  Bishoi^  disagreed  in 
regard  to  the  projDerty  and  management  of  the  com- 
munity and  the  case  was  carried  to  Rome,  resulting  at 
last  in  the  breaking  up  of  all  establishments  of  the 
order  at  Pittsburgh,  Detroit,  and  Green  Bay,  and  the 
departure  of  the  Sisters  from  the  country.  Com- 
plaints were  sent  also  against  the  Bishop  by  priests, 
and  notably  in  regard  to  the  Indian  missions.^ 
About  this  time  he  established  the  College  of  St. 
Philip  ISTeri  at  the  Cote  du  Nord-Est  under  the  Rev.. 
Messrs.  Vanderpoel  and  de  Bruyn, 

The  horizon  so  lately  full  of  promise  was  'suddenly 
clouded.  Bishop  Rese  had  apparently  been  arbitrary. 
He  was  quick  and  impulsive.  Seriously  affected  in 
his  health  and  comj^letely  discouraged,  he  resolved  to 
resign.  Leaving  the  diocese  in  charge  of  Very  Rev. 
John  de  Bruyn  and  Very  Rev.  S.  T.  Badin  as  his 
Vicars-General,  he  left  Detroit  and  the  diocese  early 
in  1837.  He  reached  Baltimore  in  time  to  take  part 
in  the  third  provincial  council;   but  from  St."  Marj^'s 

'  Berichte  der  Leopoldinen-Stiftung,  viii.,  p.  10  ;  ix.,  p.  26.  Farmer, 
"  History  of  Detroit  and  Michigan,"  Detroit,  1884,  p.  536  ;  Truth  Teller, 
X.,  pp.  317,  418  ;  Telegraph,  iii.,  pp.  366,  399  ;  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  343  ;  N.  Y. 
Weekly  Register,  iv.,  p.  213  ;  iii.,  p.  199.     Herald,  v.,  p.  4 ;  x.,  p.,  251. 

2  Rev.  Mr.  Deseille  to  Bishop  Rese,  Jan.  14,  1836  ;  Rev.  S.  T.  Badin 
to  Archbishop  Etcleston  ;  Rev.  Martin  Kundig  to  same,  Sept.  1833  ; 
April  4,  June  30,  1837. 


DR.  RESE  RESIGNS.  637 

Seminary  lie  addressed  to  the  assembled  Fathers  a 
letter  in  which,  after  declaring  that  he  had  accei^ted 
the  episcopate  reluctantly,  and  had  learned  by  experi- 
ence that  it  was  a  burden  beyond  his  strength,  he  men- 
tioned his  frequently  entertained  intention  of  resigning 
his  diocese  into  the  hands  of  his  Holiness,  or  at  least 
soliciting  a  suitable  coadjutor.  He  stated  that  he 
now  desired  to  do  so,  having  left  his  diocese  in  charge 
of  two  Vicars-General  till  other  measures  were  adopted. 
The  Fathers  of  the  Council  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff,  asking  that  the  resignation  be  ac- 
cepted, and  proposing  clergymen  deemed  fitted  to  suc- 
ceed him.  Dr.  Rese  was  summoned  to  Rome,  where 
he  was  known  and  esteemed.  He  reached  that  city  in 
very  feeble  health,  and  it  was  soon  found  that  soften- 
ing of  the  brain  had  set  in.  The  Pope,  therefore, 
decided  to  api^oint  a  coadjutor,  with  powers  of  admin- 
istering the  diocese.  The  unfortunate  Bishop  re- 
mained in  Rome,  cared  for  in  a  religious  community, 
till  the  troubles  of  1849.  Soon  after  that  he  was  taken 
to  a  hospital  at  Lappenburg,  amid  his  friends,  and  died 
there  December  29,  1871.^ 

The  see  w^as  governed  meanwhile  by  the  Vicars- 
General  till  the  death  of  Yevj  Rev.  John  de  Bruyn,  at 
St.  Philip's  College,  of  which  he  was  president,  Sep- 
tember 11,  1839,  at  the  age  of  41.  Born  at  Lierre, 
Belgium,  he  was  ordained  in  1832,  and  came  the  next 
year  to  Detroit,  laboring  for  a  time  at  Arbre  Croche.^ 

'  "  Concilia  Provincialia  Baltimori  liabita,"  pp.  124,  147.  Clarke, 
"Lives  of  Deceased  Bishops";  Rev.  F.  A.  O'Brien,  "The  Diocese  of 
Detroit,"  Lansing,  1886,  pp.  10-11.  Bishop  Rese  was  at  the  church  of 
San  Lorenzo  in  Lucina,  Rome,  in  1841. 

^  Catholic  Advocate,  iv.,  p.  276  ;  Catholic  Register,  i.,  p.  29  ;  Catholic 
Herald,  vii.,  p.  332 ;  ix.,  pp.  229,  373,  388  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xi.. 
p.  182. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

DIOCESE  OF  DETROIT. 

RT.  EEV.  PETER  PAUL  LEFEVRE,  BISHOP  OF  ZELA, 
ADMINISTRATOR  OF  DETROIT,  1841-43. 

It  was  not  easy  to  find  a  capable  clergyman  willing 
to  assume  the  responsibility  of  directing  the  diocese. 
The  Rev.  John  M.  Odin,  CM.,  was  appointed  in  De- 
cember, 1840,  but  succeeded  in  escaping  the  burden. 
In  1841  the  Holy  See  elected  to  the  position  the  Rev. 
Peter  Paul  Lefevre,  born  at  Roulers,  in  Belgium, 
April  30,  1804,  who,  after  brilliant  studies  at  Paris, 
came  to  Missouri,  and  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Rosati, 
July  17,  1831.  As  a  priest  of  the  diocese  of  St.  Louis, 
in  a  large  and  difficult  district,  with  several  churches 
to  attend,  he  manifested  untiring  patience  and  un« 
flagging  zeal.  He  was  in  Europe,  seeking  rest  and 
health,  when  he  was  appointed.  Compelled  to  accept, 
he  returned  to  the  United  States,  and  was  consecrated 
in  St.  John's  Church,  Philadelphia,  November  21, 
1841,  by  Right  Rev.  Francis  Patrick  Kenwick,  assisted 
by  Right  Rev.  John  England  and  Right  Rev.  John 
Hughes.  Issuing  a  pastoral  address  to  the  flock  placed 
under  his  care,  he  proceeded  to  Detroit. 

Bishop  Lefevre  was  ])]am  and  systematic.  His 
efforts  to  establish  order  and  regularity  in  the  affairs 
of  the  diocese  met  some  opposition,  but  he  ultimately 
prevailed.  Some  of  the  dangerous  trustee  element 
existed,  which  he  labored  to  remove.  He  repaired  the 
pro-cathedral,  encouraged  the  improvements  at  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  undertaken  by  St.  Mary's 
Association,  and  by  the  impulse  his  x>resence  gave 

638 


ST.  PHILIP'S  COLLEGE  BURNED.  639 

soon  saw  churches  rising  at  Flint,  Mount  Clemens, 
Dexter,  and  Upper  and  Lower  Saginaw.  Rev.  P. 
Kelly  completed  the  church  at  Milwaukee,  dedicated 
March  15,  1841.  Rev,  A.  Ravoux  had  nearly  com- 
pleted St.  Gabriel's  Church  at  Prairie  du  Chien,  and 
Rev.  A.  Viszogsky  a  fine  one  at  Grand  River.  The 
churches  at  Green  Bay  and  Kakalin  Rapids,  with  the 
Indian  missions,  were  still  prosjoering.^ 

He  made  an  extended  visitation  of  his  diocese  in 
1842,  and  found  the  temporal  affairs  dreadfully  con- 
fused. Turbulent  men  gave  such  trouble  in  Detroit 
that  he  threatened  to  withdraw  from  St.  Anne's  en- 
tirely. 

The  diocese  sustained,  moreover,  a  severe  blow  in 

SIGNATURE   OF   BISHOP   LEFEVRE. 

January,  1842,  in  the  complete  destruction  by  fire  of 
the  College  of  St.  Philip  Neri.^  The  diocese  contained 
St.  Anne's  Cathedral,  repaired  and  improved  ;  Holy 
Trinity  Church,  enlarged,  with  twenty-three  other 
churches  and  chapels  ;  sixteen  priests,  ten  schools,  and 
two  charitable  institutions,  and  new  churches  rising. 
The  Catholic  population  was  estimated  at  25,000. 
Such  was  the  condition  of  the  Detroit  diocese,  with  its 
estimated  Catholic  population  of  sixty  thousand,  when 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Administrator  in  1843  set  out  for  the 
Council  of  Baltimore. 

'  Catholic  Herald,  x.,  pp.  251,  259,  306,  330  ;  Truth  Teller,  xvi.,  p.  119. 

=  Bishop  Lefevre,  Feb.  5,  July  15,  19,  Dec.  1,  1842  ;  Berichte  der 
Leopoldinen-Stiftung,  xvi.,  p.  27,  31  ;  Salzbacher,  Meine  Reise  nach 
Nord  America,  ii.,  p.  242. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

DIOCESE  OF  VINCENNES. 

RT.  REV.  SIMON  GABRIEL  BRUTE,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1834-1839. 

When  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  on  the  6th  of  May,  1834, 
resolved  to  relieve  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown  of  the 
last  portion  of  his  annexed  district,  he  erected  the  see 
of  Vincennes  by  his  bull  "  Maximas  inter,''  giving  it 
as  its  diocese  the  States  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  east  of  a 
line  from  Fort  Massac  along  the  eastern  boundaries  of 
Johnson,  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Marion,  Fayette,  Shelby 
and  Mann  counties,  to  the  Illinois  River,  eight  miles 
above  Ottawa,  and  thence  to  the  northern  boundary  of 
the  State.  The  Bishop  of  the  see  was  to  be  a  suffragan 
of  the  Archbishop  of  Baltimore.^ 

Tlie  selection  for  the  throne  of  the  newly  created 
bishopric  fell  on  one  of  the  most  learned  and  saintly 
priests  in  the  United  States.  Simon  William  Gabriel 
Brute  de  Remur  was  born  March  20,  1779,  at  Rennes, 
France,  of  a  wealthy  family,  afterwards  ruined  by  the 
Revolution.  His  mother  sup2:)orted  her  children  by 
establishing  a  book-store  and  printing  office,  and 
Gabriel  became  an  expert  compositor.  After  an  hon- 
orable course  in  the  college  of  his  native  city,  he 
spent  two  years  at  the  Polytechnic  school  ;  then  study- 
ing medicine,  he  took  the  highest  prize  in  the  college  ; 
he  obtained  his  degree  in  1803.  But  he  renounced  the 
world  and  its  x^i'ospects.  The  lessons  of  the  Abbe 
Carron,  under  whom  he  made  his  first  communion  in 

'  BuUarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  pp.  108-109  ;  Catholic  Telegraph, 
iii.,  p.  405. 

640 


BISHOP  BRUTE.  641 

1791,  gave  him  an  inclination  for  the  Church,  which  he 
followed.  He  entered  the  Seminary  of  St.  Salpice, 
and  was  ordained  priest  June  10,  1808.  His  learning, 
scientific  knowledge  and  virtues  won  him  a  circle  of 
illustrious  friends,  among  them  the  famous  Lamennais 
and  his  brother,  and  late  in  life,  from  amid  his  labors 
in  America,  he  endeavored  in  vain  to  recall  that  erring- 
priest  back  to  the  Church.  He  left  a  professor's 
chair  in  the  seminary  at  Rennes,  two  years  later,  to 
accompany  Bishop  Flaget  to  America.  After  a  short 
mission  career  at  St.  Joseph's  on  the  Eastern  Shore, 
this  priest  of  a  varied  and  solid  learning  was  succes- 
sively professor  at  Mount  St.  Mary's,  and  President  of 
St.  Mary's  College,  Baltimore.  The  Seminary  of 
Mount  St.  Mary's,  with  which  he  identified  himself 
fully,  owed  him  much  of  its  success  and  influence. 
When  first  appointed  to  the  see  of  Vincennes,  he 
declined  it,  but  yielded  when  the  bulls  were  sent  a 
second  time.^  He  was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  Louis,  October  28,  1834,  by  Rt,  Rev.  Benedict  J. 
Flaget,  Bishops  Rosati  and  Purcell  being  assistants. 
On  the  5th  of  November,  he  reached  the  city  which 
was  to  be  his  future  residence  as  Bishop.  Some  miles 
in  advance,  he  was  met  by  Rev.  Mr,  Lalumiere  and  a 
number  of  citizens  on  horseback,  who  escorted  him 
and  his  companions,  the  Bishops  of  Bardstown  and 
Cincinnati,  to  the  Cathedral.  The  ceremony  of  his 
installation  took  place  the  same  evening,  and  thus  he 
took  possession  of  St,  Francis  Xavier's  Cathedral,  a 

'  Autobiographical  notes  of  Bishop  Brute.  Letters  in  Bayley , ' '  Memoirs 
of  Rt.  Rev.  8.  G.  Brute,"  p.  75,  and  in  Alerding,  "  History  of  tlie  Catho- 
lic Church  in  the  diocese  of  Vincennes,"  Indianapolis,  1888,  p.  124,  etc. 
Bishop  Brute  in  vain  endeavored  to  recall  to  his  duties  tlie  aged  Col. 
Vigo,  who  had  been  so  active  in  the  Revolution,  and  had  done  mucli  for 
the  Church,  but  he  died  without  the  sacraments. 


642       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

"  plain  brick  building,  115  feet  long  and  60  broad,  con- 
sisting of  four  walls  and  the  roof,  unplastered  and  not 
even  whitewashed,  destitute  even  of  a  place  for  preserv- 
ing the  vestments  and  sacred  vessels.  Only  a  simple 
altar  of  wood  with  a  neatly  gilded  tabernacle,  a  cross 
and  six  beautiful  candlesticks,  a  gift  from  France, 
which  were  much  in  contrast  with  the  poverty  and 
destitution  of  the  place."  He  issued  a  pastoral  letter 
to  his  flock,  and  began  to  study  his  position.  The 
Catholic  population  of  Vincennes  were  poor,  generally 
ignorant,  and  requiring  much  instruction  and  rousing. 
He  found  by  experience  that  the  pew  rents  and  sub- 
scriptions would  amount  in  all  to  about  $300  a  year, 
enough  for  a  self-denying  missionary,  but  affording 
nothing  for  the  expenses  of  a  bishop  and  the  constant 
calls  that  he  might  expect.  As  he  was  alone,  his  first 
duty  was  to  this  little  flock.  He  prepared  the  con- 
gregation for  the  great  feast  of  Christmas,  and  was 
consoled  to  see  many  receive  holy  communion  at  the 
midnight  and  two  other  masses  which  he  celebrated  ; 
and  nineteen  young  people  make  their  first  com- 
munion. 

To  form  a  definite  idea  of  the  scattered  congrega- 
tions of  Catholics  in  Indiana  and  Illinois,  he  resolved 
to  visit  the  west  and  north  of  the  diocese,  while  Rev. 
S.  P.  Lalumiere  made  a  similar  tour  through  the 
south  and  west.  He  visited  that  priest's  Church  of 
St.  Peter  at  Washington,  dedicated  St.  Mary's 
Church  on  Box's  Creek,  erected  by  the  same  clergy- 
man, said  mass  and  gave  instruction  to  the  French 
families  at  Riviere  au  Chat,  while  Rev.  Mr.  Lalumiere 
visited  Columbus  and  Shelbyville.  Meanwhile  the 
Bishop,  often  traveling  over  wet  prairies  till  near  mid- 
night, had  reached  Chicago,  to  which  he  induced  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Louis  to  send  back  Rev.  J.  M.  J.  St. 


WANTS  OF  THE  DIOCESE. 


643 


Cyr  ;  and  where  a  residence  had  been  erected  for  him. 
Rev.'  Mr.  Desseille's  mission  and  Rev.  Mr.  Badin's 
vacant  establishment  at  South  Bend  were  next  vis- 
ited. He  returned  at  last  to  his  poor  Cathedral.  Yet 
he  made  another  excursion  in  February  to  Edgar 
County,  Illinois,  where  he  found  many  Catholics  near 
Paris.  '  He  was  appalled  at  the  work  before  him. 
"No  priests,  not  one  except  those  from  other  dioceses. 
Having  come  alone,  I  reside  alone,  in  a  most  depressing 


KEV.    J.    M.   J.    ST.    CYR. 

situation  ;  but  I  am  resigned  and  do  not  complain  for 
my  wretched  self."  "  I  need  a  good  priest  to  reside 
here  "  "  There  are  six  or  seven  hundred  Catholics  at 
Fort  Wayne,  and  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand 
including  those  employed  on  the  canal."  They  had 
not  heard  mass  for  seven  months,  and  the  Bishop  ImcL 
no  one  to  send  them.^     He  set  out  again  April  ^y. 

xiv    p.  86  ;  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  391.     Bishop  Brute  to  Bishop  Rese,  Maich  4. 
1835  ;  same  to  Rev.  J.  Timon,  March  3,  May  28,  1835. 


644       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  visited  Danville  ;  Chicago,  where  Rev.  Mr.  St, 
Cyr  had  gathered  a  flock  of  four  handred,  and  where 
the  Bishop  was  received  with  honor ;  Michigan  City, 
Laporte  ;  Desseilles,  a  village  of  650  Catholic  Indians, 
with  its  Catholic  chief  Pokegan.  Then  he  inspected 
the  property  near  South  Bend,  transferred  to  him  by 
Rev.  S.  T.  Badin,  before  he  departed  for  Cincinnati, 
and  the  vacant  house  of  the  Sisters.  Then  he  i3ro- 
ceeded  to  the  village  of  Chickakos,  also  attended  bj^ 
Rev.  Mr.  Deseille,  sleeping  on  a  bench  in  the  chapel, 
after  officiating  for  the  Indians,  of  whom  the  zealous 
l^riest  had  bax)tized  more  than  a  hundred,  and  admin- 
istering confirmation.  His  next  visits  were  to  Logans- 
port  and  Terre  Haute,  saying  mass  at  each  place. 

On  his  return  he  received  Rev.  Mr.  Lalumiere's 
report.  He  had  found  more  Catholics  than  the  Bishop 
had  done.  In  three  i:)laces  they  had  begun  to  build 
churches.  The  hundred  and  fifty  Catholic  families  at 
Fort  Wayne  were  finishing  their  little  church,  30 
feet  by  60.  To  them  the  Bishop  was  now  able  to 
send  a  j)riest  just  ordained,  Rev.  Mr.  Ruff,  able  to 
speak  the  three  languages,  English,  French,  and  Ger- 
man, used  by  his  flock.  The  Bishop  having  thus 
acquired  a  fairly  accurate  knowledge  of  his  diocese, 
prepared  for  his  departure.  He  announced  his  purpose 
to  his  flock  in  a  j^astoral  letter,  and  appointing  Rev. 
Mr.  Lalumiere  his  Vicar-General,  started  on  the  16th  of 
Julj^,  1835,  for  France,  and  in  fifty-one  days  reached 
his  native  land. 

His  visit  to  Europe  proved  not  unavailing.  In  Aus- 
tria, especially,  he  was  befriended  by  the  Empress  and 
b}^  Prince  Metternich.  "  When  in  Rome,"  he  wrote, 
"asking  Gregory  XVI.  for  his  blessing  to  be  a  good 
bishop,  I  told  him,  that  in  1804  I  had  knelt  to  Pius 
VII. ,  in  a  private  opportunity,  and  received  his  bless- 


PROGRESS.  645 

ing  to  be  a  good  priest."  Cheered  and  encouraged  by 
his  reception  he  returned  to  America,  landing  in  New 
York,  July  20,  1836,  and  reaching  his  cathedral  a 
month  later.  By  the  aid  given  him  he  established  a 
diocesan  seminary,  an  orphan  asylum,  and  a  free  school 
at  Vincennes,  completed  the  Cathedral,  and  aided  in 
erecting  several  small  churches.  But  he  brought  back 
what  w^as  even  more  important  than  worldly  means, 
nineteen  priests  and  seminarians,  many  of  them  Bre- 
tons, resolute,  enduring,  full  of  faith  and  zeal.^  The 
priests  were  soon  stationed  at  points  of  greatest  need, 
and  the  Bishop,  resuming  his  old  life  of  professor, 


ST.    FRANCIS   XAVIER'S    CATHEDRAL,    VINCENNES,    1834. 

The  former  church  stood  in  the  same  inclosure,  at  the  side. 

formed  the  seminarians  to  the  ecclesiastical  learning, 
and  especially  to  that  spirit  of  zeal  and  sacrifice  which 
he  could  so  well  inspire.  They,  too,  gradually  entered 
on  the  field  of  labor.  Log  churches  rose  to  gather  the 
faithful,  or,  where  Catholics  were  better  endowed, 
churches  of  frame  or  brick,  at  Evansville,  Jaspers, 
Lanesville,  New  Alsace,  Oldenburg,  in  Yigo  County. 

With  the  beginning  of  1837  the  diocese  showed  the 
awakening.  Vincennes  Cathedral  had  two  priests, 
one  of  them  Rev.  Celestine  de  la  Hailandiere.     An- 


1  Bishop  Brute,  Catholic  Telegraph,  iv.,  pp.  317,  349,  437  ;  in  Berichte 
der  Leopoldinen-Stiftung  ;  Alerding,  "  History  of  the  Catholic  Church 
in  the  Diocese  of  Vincennes,"  Indianapolis,  1883,  pp.  124-145.  Catholic 
Diary,  vi.,  p.  167 ;  Pilot,  Aug.  6,  1836.     Rev.  G.  Richard,  Aug.  17,  1830. 


646      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

other  future  bishop,  Rev,  Maurice  de  St.  Palais,  was  at 
St.  Mary's,  and  near  him,  at  Black  Oak  Ridge,  Vin- 
cennes's  first  native  priest,  Lalumiere  ;  there  were  two 
X^riests  at  Fort  Wayne  ;  Rev.  Joseph  Ferneding  at 
Dover,  Rev.  Mr.  Ruff  at  Peru,  Rev.  Messrs.  St.  Cyr 
and  Schaeffer  at  Chicago.  Bishop  Brute  himself 
felled  the  first  tree  for  a  church  at  Riviere  au  Chat. 

Amid  his  labors  the  Bishop  was  summoned  to  at- 
tend the  Provincial  Council  to  be  held  at  Baltimore  in 
April,  1837.  While  crossing  Ohio  by  stage  he  was 
forced  to  ride  outside,  and,  exposed  to  the  bleak  March 
winds,  took  a  heavy  cold,  which  finally  settled  on  his 
lungs.  He  was  too  earnest  and  energetic  to  be  de- 
layed by  this,  but  kept  on  and  took  part  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Council.  As  it  was  his  first  atten- 
dance at  any  of  these  solemn  gatherings  of  the  episcopal 
body,  he  pronounced  his  solemn  profession  of  faith. 
lie  returned  to  resume  his  usual  labors  visiting  the 
northern  part  of  his  diocese  during  the  summer  ;  but 
he  had  to  deplore  losses.  Rev.  Mr.  Desseilles,  the  de- 
voted priest,  died  amid  the  hardships  of  his  Indian 
mission,  leaving  no  one  versed  in  their  language  to 
succeed  him  ;  and  the  amiable  Rev.  Bernard  Schaeffer, 
one  of  those  who  accompanied  him  from  France,  ex- 
pired at  Chicago.^ 

The  next  year,  though  his  health  and  strength  were 
visibly  waning,  Bishop  Brute,  on  the  27th  of  April,  set 
out  on  another  visitation  to  Washington,  where  a 
large  brick  church  was  under  roof  ;  St.  Peter's,  Rev. 
Mr.  Neyron's  new  brick  church  at  the  Knobs,  con- 
firming three  generations  in  one  family  ;  Madison, 
where   Rev,   Mr.   Shaw  was  building  a  large  stone 


'  Alerding,  "  History  of  the  Diocese  of  Vincennes,"  pp.  366,  338,  846, 
381,  444  ;  Catholic  Herald,  v.,  pp.  319,  407. 


FAILING  HEALTH.  647 

church  ;  New  Albany,  where  Catholics  were  ready  to 
build,  and  where  Sisters  of  Charity  from  Nazareth  had 
succeeded  those  of  Loretto.  After  a  short  rest  at  Vin- 
cennes,  he  was  again  devoting  himself  to  his  flock. 
He  dedicated  St,  Peter's  Church  in  Franklin  County, 
churches  at  New  Alsace  and  Blue  Creek.  He  visited 
St.  Francisville,  blessing  the  church  on  the  bluff  over- 
looking the  Wabash  ;  the  little  flock  at  Paris,  and  the 
German  congregation  in  Jasper  County,  Illinois.  The 
devoted  priest.  Rev.  Vincent  Bacquelin,  welcomed  him 
at  Shelby ville,  but  was  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse 
while  attending  a  sick  call  some  years  later.  At  Terre 
Haute  he  found  a  large  brick  church  nearly  completed 
by  Rev.  S.  Buteux,  a  priest  of  a  family  which  gave  a 
martyr  to  Canada  in  the  heroic  days  of  the  Jesuit 
missions.  Rev.  Mr.  Shaw  was  building  St.  Michael's 
Church  at  Madison  and  St.  Vincent's  was  advancing 
at  Prescott.     His  visitation  extended  over  1450  miles. 

Bishop  Brute's  health  was  now  failing  very  rap- 
idly ;  his  strength  yielded  to  the  disease,  but  not  his 
will.  After  retiring  for  a  time  to  Bardstown  to  re- 
cuperate, he  visited  places  where  his  presence  or  even 
that  of  a  priest  was  needed,  often  attending  sick 
calls,  when  feebler  than  those  to  whom  he  ministered. 
Not  long  before  his  death,  while  in  a  distant  part  of  his 
diocese,  he  actually  fainted  on  his  way  to  the  bedside 
of  a  patient.  On  Trinity  Sunday  he  celebrated  the 
thirty-first  anniversary  of  his  first  mass,  being  assisted 
on  that  occasion  by  two  of  his  clergy,  who  supported 
him  at  the  altar. 

When  he  was  at  last  compelled  to  keep  his  bed,  his 
devotion  increased,  and  he  edified  all  by  his  piety 
and  by  his  patience.  Conformity  to  the  will  of  God, 
devotion  to  our  Lady  were  his  chief  themes.  His  cor- 
respondence he  continued,  whenever  he  could  sit  up 


648       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

writing,  even  on  the  day  of  his  death.  He  received 
the  last  sacraments  w^ith  the  utmost  humility  and  devo- 
tion. He  directed  the  prayers  for  the  departing  to  be 
recited,  answering  fervently  and  devoutly,  and  on  the 
26th  of  June,  1839,  surrendered  his  soul  into  the  hands 
of  his  Creator.  He  was  interred  in  the  sanctuary  of 
the  Cathedral,  but  the  next  year  his  remains  were 
placed  behind  the  altar,  a  tablet  on  the  wall  recording 
his  life  and  labors. 

His  death  was  deplored  by  his  immediate  flock  as 
that  of  a  benefactor  and  a  father.  Throughout  the 
churches  in  the  United  States  there  was  a  general 
feeling  that  a  great  loss  had  been  sustained.  "The 
glorious  -life  that  he  had  led,  for  it  was  truly  so,  grew 
brighter  as  it  hastened  to  its  close.  The  eminent 
virtues  he  had  practiced  so  long  fortified  his  spirit,  and 
he  departed  amid  the  tears  of  the  living,  to  be  united 
to  Him  whom  he  loved  so  purely  from  his  youth." 

The  decline  of  life  is  generally  that  of  rest  and  re- 
tirement. Dr.  Brute  spent  years  in  a  seminary  college 
amid  the  mountains,  known  by  his  virtues,  his  piety, 
his  devotedness  to  the  Church,  and  his  zeal  for  souls, 
but  rarely  mingling  in  the  busy  world.  From  this  he 
was  drawn,  at  the  age  of  fifty-five,  to  take  charge  of 
two  large  States,  more  as  a  missionary,  a  steward,  a 
provider,  than  as  a  bishop).  His  unparalleled  exertions 
and  toilsome  journeys  soon  terminated  his  career.^ 

'  Bishop  Brute,  Jan.  25,  1837,  April  16,  1838 ;  April  30,  1839.  Truth 
Teller,  xiv.,  pp.  315,  317  ;  Alerding,  pp.  351,  382,  417.  Catholic  Advo- 
cate, iii.,  p.  155,  286.  Catholic  Herald,  vii. ,  p.  227.  "Memoirs  of  Uie 
Rt.  Rev.  Simon  Wm.  Gabriel  Brute,  D.D.,  first  Bishop  of  Vincennes ; 
with  sketches  describing  his  recollections  of  scenes  connected  with  the 
French  Revolution,"  New  York,  1860,  1876,  Charles  Brute  de  Remur, 
"  Vie  de  Mgr.  Brute  de  Remur,  premier  Evgque  de  Vincennes,"  Rennes, 
1887.  McCaffrey,  "  Discourse  on  the  Rt.  Rev.  Simon  Gabriel  Brute, 
D.D.,  Bishop  of  Vincennes,  pronounced  in  Mount  St.  Mary's  Church, 
August  19,  1839,"  Emmitsburg,  1839. 


ytSEBJ-Ti  fc^"'" 


SIKSrHlT  mmw.  ^ .  (Sr.lBlEMTm 


imsT BissoT  OF  vnrcEmms  ikdiaka 


V.  REV.   S.  P.  LALUMIERE.  649 

On  the  death  of  Bishop  Brute  the  administration 
devolved  for  a  time  on  V.  Rev.  Simon  P.  Lalumiere, 
of  St.  Simon's  Churcli,  who  continued  to  reside  at 
Washington,  governing  tlie  diocese  wisely.  He  was 
a  native  of  Indiana,  born  at  Vincennes  in  1804,  trained 
in  his  seminary  by  Bishop  David,  and  from  an  early 
period  connected  with  the  Indiana  missions.  As  early 
as  1828  he  visited  the  Catholics  in  Daviess  County,  and 
built  St.  Mary's  Church  in  1834.  He  welcomed  Bishop 
Brute  to  Vincennes,  and  was  his  constant  fellow- 
laborer,  visiting  one  part  of  the  diocese  when  the 
Bishop  did  another.  He  formed  many  congregations 
and  labored  faithfully,  seeking  no  fame  or  earthly 
reward.  He  died  June  9,  1857,  while  pastor  of  St. 
Joseph's  Church,  Terre  Haute. ^ 

Two  of  the  pioneer  priests,  Rev.  Messrs.  Desseilles 
and  IN'eyron,  repose  at  Notre  Dame,  which  promises 
to  be  our  Westminster  Abbey. 

1  Alerding,  p.  453  ;  pp.  128,  253,  416,  490. 


SIGNATURE   OF   BISHOP  BRUTE. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

DIOCESE  OF  VINCENNES. 

ET.     REV.     CELESTINE     RENE     LAWRENCE     GUYNEMER     DE     LA 
HAILANDIERE,  SECOND  BISHOP,  1839-1843. 

At  the  time  of  the  death  of  Bishop  Brute,  his  Vicar- 
General  and  proposed  Coadjutor,  Rev.  Mr.  Hail- 
andiere,  was  laboring  energetically  in  France  in  the 
interest  of  the  diocese,  having  been  sent  over  by  the 
BishoiD,  after  some  labors,  on  the  mission  in  Indiana. 
On  the  17th  of  May  bulls  were  issued  electing  him 
Bishop  of  Axiern  and  Coadjutor  of  Vincennes.  Al- 
most at  the  same  time  he  received  tidings  of  the  death 
of  the  saintly  Brute.  Ax)palled  at  the  responsibility 
thus  suddenly  devolved  upon  him,  he  sought  advice 
and,  yielding  to  the  judgment  of  others,  he  was  conse- 
crated, August  18,  1839,.  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Sacred 
Heart,  Paris,  by  Rt.  Rev.  Forbin-Janson,  assisted  by 
Mgr,  Blanquart  de  Bailleul,  Bishop  of  Versailles,  and 
Mgr.  LeMercier,  Bishop  of  Beauvais.  He  sent  over 
to  Indiana  a» number  of  clerical  students  and  several 
priests,  with  vestments,  church  plate,  and  books.  He 
induced  the  Eudists  to  undertake  a  college  at  Vin- 
cennes, and  the  Society  of  the  Holy  Cross  to  send  over 
a  colony  of  Brothers.  The  Sisters  of  Providence,  at 
Ruille,  also  agreed  to  send  over  six  selected  Sisters  to 
found  an  establishment  of  their  community  in  his  dio- 
cese. Having  effected  all  this,  he  set  out  for  Vin- 
cennes, where  he  arrived  on  the  14th  of  November. 
He  was  solemnly  installed  in  the  Cathedral  on  the 

650 


RT.    REV.    CELESTINE   DE   LA   HAILANDIERE, 
SECOND  BISHOP  OF  VINCENNES. 


651 


HIS  LABORS.  653 

next  Sunday,  by  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis,  who  preached 
on  the  occasion.^ 

The  second  Bishop  of  Vincennes  was  born  at  Com- 
bourg,  France,  May  2,  1798,  and  was  ordained  at 
Paris  in  May,  1825.  After  ten  years  experience  as 
Vicar,  he  came  to  the  United  States  with  Bishop  Brute 
in  1836.  One  of  his  first  cares  was  to  aj)pease  a  scliism 
at  Chicago,  and  lie  succeeded  where  others  failed. 
He  gave  an  impulse  to  the  college  opened  by  the 
Eudists,  under  Rev.  Father  Bellier,  and  stimulated 
the  erection  of  churches.  In  1840  he  dedicated  the 
church  at  Terre  Haute,  and,  within  two  years,  saw 
others  begun  at  MuUhausen  and  Indianapolis,  Colum- 
bus, Buenavista,  Lawrenceburg,  Ferdinand,  and  Jas- 
per, as  well  as  St.  Wendel's  and  St.  Joseph's,  in  Van- 
denburgh  County,  and  another  dedicated  under  the 
same  saint's  name  in  Dearborn  County.^ 

Bishop  de  la  Hailandiere  was  by  consecration  tlie 
youngest  of  the  prelates  who  attended  the  Baltimore 
Council  in  May,  1840.  There  he  imjDressed  his  fellow- 
bishops  by  his  ability,  zeal,  and  personal  merit. 

In  1841 ,  in  a  letter  to  the  Propaganda,  he  estimated 
the  popuhition  of  his  diocese  at  twenty-five  to  thirty- 
five  'thousand,  attended  by  thirty-three  priests,  with 
a  steady  growth  by  births,  conversions,  and  immigra- 
tion. 

The  next  year  those  who  believed  hostility  to  the 
Church  dissipated  in  Indiana,  were  rudely  awakened 
from  their  delusion.  Churches,  convents,  and  colleges 
had  been  burned  down  elsewhere,  but  hatred  of  the 
priesthood  had  never  yet  gone  so  far  as  to  form  a  suc- 

'  Notes  of  Bishop  de  la  Hailandiere  ;  Alerding,  p.  162,  etc.  ;  Catholic 
Advocate,  iv.,  p.  354. 

*  Freeman's  Journal,  i.,  p.  110  ;  Alerding  ;  Catholic  Advocate,  vii., 
pp.  210,  310. 


654       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

cessf 111  conspiracy  to  send  an  innocent  clergyman  to 
state  prison  on  a  fearful  charge.  In  May,  1842,  Rev. 
Roman  Weinzoeptlen,  the  priest  stationed  at  Evans- 
ville,  was  arrested  on  a  cunningly  devised  accusation 
of  crime.  The  local  editor,  evidently  a  party  to  the 
plot,  fanned  the  flame  and  led  an  outcry.  The  Grand 
Jury  found  an  indictment,  and,  on  the  trial,  legal 
ability  and  clear  evidence  availed  naught ;  tlie  court 
and  jury,  prejudiced  against  the  unfortunate  priest, 
found  him  guilty.  When  the  prison  doors  closed 
upon  him,  there  came  a  revulsion  ;  the  evidence  of 
the  infamous  character  of  the  chief  witness  and  of  the 
plot,  as  well  the  weakness  of  the  whole  case,  became 
so  apparent  that  public  opinion,  shamed  to  a  sense  of 
justice,  spoke  so  loudly  and  openly  for  the  relief  of 
this  victim  of  perjury  and  conspiracy,  that  his  prison 
doors  were  flung  open.' 

When  Pope  Gregory  XYI.  granted  a  universal  jub- 
ilee to  enlist  the  prayers  of  the  faithful  throughout 
the  world  in  behalf  of  unhappy  Spain,  Dr.  Hailandiere 
proclaimed  it  by  his  x>astoral,  July  2,  1842.  The  ex- 
ercises of  the  jubilee  became  a  series  of  missions. 

Bishop  Brute,  it  will  be  remembered,  visited  the 
tenantless  establishments  of  Rev.  Mr.  Badin.  The 
neighboring  Indian  missions,  continued  by  Rev.  Mr. 
Desseilles  till  his  death,  were  taken  up  by  Rev.  B.  Petit, 
who  accompanied  his  Indians  when  they  were  forcibly 
removed  by  the  United  States  government.  The  effort 
was  beyond  his  strength,  and  he  died  of  hardship  and 

'  Bishop  de  la  Hailandiere  to  the  Propaganda,  September  29,  1841. 
Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  pp.  136-151,  x.,  p.  38  ;  Alerding,  p.  171  ;  Sten- 
ographic Report  of  the  Trial  and  Conviction  of  Priest  Weinzoepflen, 
Louisville,  1844  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Magazine,  iii.,  p.  263  ;  Catholic  Cabinet, 
1i.,  pp.  61,  751  ;  Catholic  Herald,  x.,  p.  173  ;  xii.,  p.  98.  Bishop  de  la 
Hailandiere  to  Rev.  J.  Timon,  June  25,  1844. 


PERSECUTION  OF  A  PRIEST.  055 

grief.  ^  The  land  was  thus  become  a  desert.  Dr.  de  hi 
Hailandiere  offered  the  grounds  at  Sainte  Marie  des 
Lacs  to  Rev.  Edward  Sorin,  a  young  priest  who  had 
just  establislied  St.  Peter's  community  of  Brothers  of 
the  Holy  Cross  at  Vincennes.  Rev.  Father  Sorin 
reached  the  lakes  on  the  26th  of  November,  1842. 
The  old  log  hut,  the  decaying  fences,  the  snow-clad 
prairie,  the  frozen  lake,  did  not  seem  to  promise  success 
for  any  attempt  to  establish  a  college  there  ;  but  that 
was  the  condition  under  which  he  was  to  obtain  it.  He 
resolutely  undertook  the  work.  In  the  month  of  Feb- 
ruary he  removed  to  Notre  Dame  du  Lac,  as  it  was 
henceforward  to  be  called.     A  log  church  was  soon 


SIGNATURE   OF   BISHOP  DE   LA   HAILANDIERE. 

erected,  and  contracts  made  for  brick  and  lumber  to 
erect  a  college.  In  the  summer  three  priests  arrived, 
and  three  Sisters  of  the  Holy  Cross  came  to  found  a 
convent  and  academy.  Thus  began  the  wonderful 
institutions  at  Notre  Dame,  Indiana.^ 

There  was  activity  throughout  the  diocese,  but  it 
was  excessive.  Though  Bishop  de  la  Hailandiere  held 
a  synod,  preceded  by  a  retreat  of  his  clergy,  he  found 
that  his  efforts  excited  discontent.  He  proceeded  to 
Baltimore  to  attend  the  fifth  Provincial  Council  dis- 
heartened and  discouraged. 


»  Catholic  Advocate,  iv.,  pp.  53,  354  ;  Catholic  Herald,  vii.,  p.  93. 

2  Lyons,  "  Silver  Jubilee  of  the  University  of  Notre  Dame,"  Chicago, 
1869  ;  Catholic  Cabinet,  ii.,  p.  570  ;  Salzbacher,  "  Meine  Reise  nach  Nord 
Anierika,"  p.  231. 


CHAPTER  Xyil. 

DIOCESE  OF  NASHVILLE. 

RT.   REV.   RICHARD   PIUS   MILES,   FIRST   BISHOP,   1838-1843. 

The  State  of  Tennessee  liad  been  from  the  first  divi- 
sion of  the  diocese  of  Baltimore,  included,  witli  Ken- 
tucky, in  the  diocese  of  Bardstown.  The  j^rogress  of 
the  faith  in  that  State  had,  liowever,  been  slow  ;  Catho- 
lics were  few  and  widely  scattered.  Like  North  Caro- 
lina, from  which  it  sprang,  Tennessee  had  a  population 
far  removed  from  the  truth  and  little  disposed  to  wel- 
come the  Church.  The  conviction  that  a  devoted  resi- 
dent bishop,  ready  to  endure  trials  and  hardships, 
could  ultimately  build  up  Catholicity,  led  to  the  erec- 
tion of  the  diocese  of  Nashville,  embracing  that  State, 
The  establishment  of  the  see  was  recommended  by  the 
Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  in  April,  1837.  It 
was  accordingly  erected  by  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  on  the 
28th  of  July,  1837,  by  his  bull  "Universi  Dominici 
Gregis."^ 

The  choice  for  the  arduous  duty  of  organizing  and 
directing  the  diocese  devolved  on  Father  Richard 
Pius  Miles,  of  the  Order  of  Preachers,  a  native  of 
Maryland,  born  in  Prince  George's  County,  May  17, 
1791.  Emigrating  to  Kentucky  with  his  family  in 
youth,  he  there  entered  the  order  of  St.  Dominic  in 
1806.  Ordained  ten  years  afterwards,  he  became  a 
laborious  missioner  in  Kentucky  and  Ohio.  Under 
his  direction  and  guidance  the  Sisters  of  St.  Dominic 

'  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  p.  163. 
656 


CHURCH  IN  TENNESSEE.  657 

were  formed,  and  established  houses  in  both  States. 
A  priest  of  active  energy,  yet  full  of  the  religious 
spirit,  an  experienced  spiritual  director,  he  was  now 
called  to  a  new  field. 

Bishop  Miles  was  consecrated  on  the  16th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1838,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Bardstown,  Bishop 
Rosati  of  St.  Louis  being  Bishop  consecrator,  assisted 
by  Bishop  Chabrat,  Coadjutor  of  Louisville,  and 
Bishop  Brute  of  Vincennes.  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  David  had 
been  invited  to  perform  the  consecration,  but  his  age 
and  growing  infirmities  prevented  his  acceptance. 
In  the  sermon  preached  by  Very  Rev.  John  Timon, 
CM.,  the  sacred  orator  alluded  to  the  difficulties  and 
trials  with  which  the  Bishop  of  Nashville  would  have 
to  contend  in  his  new  diocese,  and  expressed  the  hope 
that  the  same  success  might  crown  his  labors  as  had 
crowned  those  of  Bishops  Flaget  and  Rosati.^ 

Rev.  E.  J.  Durbin,  who  had  for  some  years  regularly 
visited  the  Catholics  of  Nashville,  preceded  the  Bishop 
to  prepare  for  his  reception.  The  church  there,  a 
brick  building  forty-five  by  fifty-fivQ  feet,  was  in 
wretched  condition,  but  Rev.  Mr.  Durbin,  by  his  exer- 
tions and  liberality,  repaired  and  renovated  it. 
Bishop  Miles,  after  preaching  at  Franklin,  readied 
Nashville,  and  took  possession  of  his  little  cathedral, 
Oct.  18,  1838.  The  city  contained  then  only  about  130 
Catholics.  After  oiRciating  there  he  set  out  to  explore 
his  diocese,  learn  where  Catholics  were,  and  what 
prospect  there  might  be  of  building  up  churches.' 
Murfreesboro  had  but  one  Catholic  family  numbering 
seven  souls  ;  Bishop  Miles  on  his  way  to  Athens  found 

'  Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  p.  260  ;  Catholic  Herald,  vi.,  p.  300  ;  Truth 
Teller,  xiv.,  p.  335. 

»  Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  pp.  316,  348,  404  ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  iv., 
pp.  176,  340. 


658       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

a  single  Catholic  family  on  Walden's  Ridge.  At  and 
near  Athens  there  were  about  a  hundred  Catholics, 
chiefly  men  employed  building  a  railroad.  There 
were  a  few  at  Fayetteville,  Mount  Pleasant,  and 
Columbia.  After  a  journey  of  460  miles  on  horseback 
he  reached  Nashville,  officiating  by  tlie  way  at  Frank- 
lin. He  soon  afterwards  visited  Gallatin.  From  his 
personal  acquaintance  with  the  diocese  he  was  led  to 
estimate  the  Catholic  population.  Including  a  few 
families  at  Memphis  and  other  places  not  yet  visited, 
at  not  much  more  than  three  hundred,  and  this  little 
body  was  poor  and  widely  scattered.^ 

The  next  year  he  visited  Memphis  and  installed  Rev. 
W.  T.  Clancy  as  pastor  there  with  charge  of  the  faith- 
ful at  Ashport,  Jackson,  Bolivar,  and  LaGrange. 
While  endeavoring  to  secure  some  clergymen  for  his 
diocese,  and  devising  plans  for  a  seminary,  he  was  pros- 
trated by  illness,  and  his  life  soon  hung  by  a  thread. 
His  mind  was  op]3ressed  by  the  sense  of  his  duties  and 
the  calls  made  on  him.  Providentially  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Stokes  arrived,  and  bestowing  all  care  on  the 
Bishop  saw  him  begin  to  recover.  Then  that  priest 
set  out  for  some  of  the  most  urgent  calls,  and  traveled 
seven  hundred  miles  through  the  State.  He  obtained 
lots  for  a  church  at  Ashport,  and  saw  the  erection  of 
the  church  taken  in  hand. 

The  Bishop  on  his  recovery  resumed  his  labors,  and 
was  gratified  to  be  able  to  celebrate  Christmas  in  his 
improved  church  with  some  little  dignity.^ 

After  visiting  St.  Rose's  convent,  where  with  the  per- 
mission of  the  Bishop  of  Bardstown  he  administered 

'  Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  p.  405  ;  Cath.  Herald,  vii..  p.  205  ;  Catholic  Ad- 
vocate, iv.,  pp.  303,  326,  388. 

■^  Catholic  Register,  i.,  p.  227. 


CONDITION  OF  DIOCESE.  659 

confirmation  and  ordained  Rev.  Augustus  Anderson, 
O.P.,  Bishop  Miles  proceeded  to  Europe/ 

His  visit  was  not  without  success.  On  his  return  a 
church  was  erected  in  East  Tennessee,  another  in  Rob- 
ertson County,  dedicated  to  St.  Michael ;  while  in 
West  Tennessee,  Rev.  Michael  McAleer,  of  Memphis, 
was  building  two  churches  in  his  district.  A  lot  had 
been  purchased  at  Nashville  for  a  diocesan  seminary, 

SIGNATURE   OF   BISHOP   MILES. 

and  Sisters  of  Charity  arrived  in  August  to  open  a 
school  for  girls  in  a  fine  large  building  on  Campbell's 

Hill.' 

The  diocese,  which  promised  so  little,  was  thus 
slowly  and  gradually  gaining  in  strength,  with  slight 
immigration,  a  difficult  mountain  country,  and  a  sur- 
rounding population  imbued  with  strong  prejudices 
against  the  truth. 

'  Catholic  Register,  i. ,  p.  290. 

^Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  pp.  3,  98,  346,  271;  Salzbacher,  "Meiae 
Reise  nach  Nord  Amerika,"  p.  318. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 
DIOCESE  OF  NATCHEZ. 
EIGHT  REV.  JOHN  J.  CHANCHE,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1841-43. 

On  the  28th  of  July,  1837,  his  Holiness,  Pope  Gregory 
XVI.,  at  the  instance  of  the  Provincial  Council  of  Bal- 
timore, erected  an  episcopal  see  at  Natchez,  with  the 
State  of  Mississippi  as  the  diocese  dependent  on  it. 
The  clergyman  first  proposed  for  the  new  see,  V. 
Rev.  Thomas  Heyden,  after  some  hesitation  finally 
declined  the  mitre,  and  it  was  not  till  December  15, 
1840,  that  the  Rev.  John  J.  Chanche,  president  of  St. 
Mary's  College,  Baltimore,  was  selected,  and  accepted 
the  bulls.'  He  was  consecrated  in  the  Cathedral  of 
Baltimore  on  the  14th  of  March,  1841,  by  Archbishop 
Eccleston,  assisted  by  Bishops  Fenwick,  of  Boston,  and 
Hughes,  of  New  York.  John  Mary  Joseph  Chanche 
was  born  in  Baltimore,  October  4,  1795,  his  i^arents 
having  fled  from  the  horrors  of  the  outbreak  of  the 
negroes  in  Saint  Domingo.  Educated  by  the  Sulpi- 
tians,  he  was  ordained  by  Archbishox)  Marechal,  June 
6,  1819.  Having  become  a  Suli)itian,  he  was  made  a 
professor  in  the  seminary,  and  in  1834  succeeded  Rev. 
S.  Eccleston  as  president  of  the  college. 

Nearly  the  whole  State  of  Mississippi  was  included 
in  the  original  diocese  of  Baltimore,  although  it  was 
not  till  1796  that  Bishop  Carroll  obtained  control  of 
Natchez.  It  was  made  a  Vicariate  Apostolic  and 
placed  under  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  in  1825, 

'  Bull  "  Universi  Dominici  Gregis,"  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide, 
v..  p.  161. 

660 


KT.  REV.  JOHN  J.  CHANCHE,  BISHOP  OF  NATCHEZ. 


661 


IRISH  PRIESTS.  663 

Spanish  expeditions  accompanied  by  priests  visited 
the  territory  at  an  early  day  ;  but  it  was  not  till  Mgr. 
de  St.  Vallier,  second  Bishop  of  Quebec,  established 
his  Seminary  missions  on  the  Mississippi  River,  that  a 
priest.  Rev.  Mr.  Davion,  took  up  his  residence  among 
the  Taensas  and  visited  a  kindred  tribe,  the  JS^atchez. 
His  successor.  Rev.  J.  B.  de  St.  Cosme,  was  killed  by 
Indians  in  1706.  In  May,  1699,  Le  Moyne  d' Iberville 
began  a  settlement  at  Biloxi,  now  Ocean  Springs,  and 
a  little  chapel  was  raised  in  which  Rev.  Mr.  Bor- 
denave  said  mass  daily.  Such  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Catholic  Church  in  the  present  State  of  Missis- 
sippi. Then  we  find  the  Abbe  Juif  at  Yazoo,  and  the 
Jesuit  Father  Souel  laboring  among  the  neighboring 
Indians.  At  the  time  of  the  massacre  in  1729,  the 
French  settled  at  Natchez  had  a  resident  chaplain, 
but  he  was  absent,  and  Fathers  Souel  and  Du  Poisson, 
S.J.,  were  killed  by  the  Indians  on  the  soil  of  Missis- 
sippi. Under  the  French  rule  there  was  generally  a 
priest  at  Natchez,  and  under  the  Spanish  domination 
a  chapel,  if  not  a  resident  priest,  at  Villa  Gayoso. 
About  1790  Rev.  William  Savage,  Gregory  White, 
and  Constantine  McKenna  were  sent  over  to  serve  at 
Natchez.  When  the  United  States  obtained  posses- 
sion of  the  territory  in  1796,  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Family,  a  two  story  frame  building,  stood  on  Com- 
merce Street,  Natchez.  Bishop  Carroll  requested  the 
Bishop  of  Louisiana  to  continue  to  supply  a  priest  for 
that  town,  but  the  population  dwindled  away  and  the 
visits  of  a  clergyman  became  rare. 

When  the  Vicariate  Apostolic  was  erected,  Bishop 
Du  Bourg  exerted  himself  to  meet  to  some  extent  the 
spiritual  wants  of  the  faithful  ;  but  in  1833  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Family  was  without  a  priest,  and  until  a 
diocese  Avas  erected  it  so  continued,  though  Ave  are  told 


664       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

that  the  Catholics  of  Natchez  were  occasionally  visited 
by  a  clergyman  from  New  Orleans.  In  1838  a  sus- 
pended priest  gave  trouble  there,  but  Bishop  Blanc 
sent  the  Jesuit  Father  Van  de  Velde,  who  effected 
much  good.  The  next  year  Rev.  John  Tinion,  CM., 
gave  a  mission  at  Natchez,  baptized  several,  heard 
many  confessions,  and  had  thirty-six  communicants.' 
In  1839  we  find  Rev.  M.  D.  0'  Reilly  laboring  at  Vicks- 
burg,  and  steps  taken  to  rebuild  on  the  old  site  of  the 
Temple  of  the  Sun,  the  Catholic  church  which  had 
been  destroyed  by  fire.''  In  that  year  Rev.  Mr.  Bro- 
gard  took  charge  of  the  congregation  at  Natchez. 

Bislioj)  Chanche  reached  his  appointed  see  on  the 
18tli  of  May,  1843,  and  the  next  day.  Ascension  Thurs- 
day, officiated  in  Mechanics'  Hall.  As  some  difficulty 
had  already  arisen  about  the  tenure  of  Church  prop- 
erty there  and  at  Yicksburg,  the  Bishop  explained  the 
rules  of  the  Church,  which  he  was  resolved  to  carry  out. 
He  then  visited  the  Northern  States  to  solicit  aid  for 
the  district  committed  to  his  care.  From  the  Bishop 
of  New  Orleans  came  a  fund  destined  for  Natchez, 
which  had  been  sent  from  time  to  time  by  the  Associa- 
tion for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  and  which  had 
accumulated  in  his  hands.  Bishop  Chanche  returned 
somewhat  encouraged,  and,  on  the  24th  of  February, 
1842,  assisted  by  Rev.  John  G.  Frangois  and  P.  P. 
Desgaultier,  laid  the  corner-stone  of  his  cathedral  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Union  streets.  The  Gothic  cathe- 
dral to  be  dedicated  to  the  Immaculate  Heart  of 
Mary,  was  to  be  60  feet  wide  and  130  deep.     He  began 

'  Archbishop  Blanc  to  Archbishop  Eccleston,  January  39,  1838,  Feb- 
ruary 18,  1839. 

«  Catholic  Almanacs,  1833-1840  ;  Catholic  Advocate,  Iv.,  pp.  156,  269, 
333  ;  Catholic  Herald,  vii.,  p.  236  ;  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  vli.,  p.  34  ; 
Truth  Teller,  July  13,  1839. 


CHURCH  PROPERTY.  665 

regular  instructions  for  white  and  colored  Catholics, 
and  Rev,  Mr.  Francois  was  gratified  by  seeing  piety 
revive.  He  conferred  the  sacrament  of  confirmation  at 
Pentecost,  1842,  on  more  than  thirty.  He  was  encour- 
aged by  the  success  of  an  academy  opened  under  his 


A^d/h^.^o/^ ^ 


SIGNATURE   OF   BISHOP   CHAN  CHE. 

auspices  by  some  young  ladies  Avho  accompanied  him 
from  Maryland.  Bishop  Chanche  sent  Rev.  Mr.  B., 
Abbe  to  the  gulf  shore,  and,  in  a  visitation,  he  aroused 
the  faith  of  the  old  French  settlements  at  Biloxi  and 
Pass  Christian,  and  was  soon  able  to  give  them  a  resi- 
dent priest  and  see  steps  taken  to  erect  churches.^ 

The  property  of  the  Church  in  Natchez  had  all,  in 
violation  of  treaty  rights,  been  seized  by  the  United 
States  or  by  the  city.  Bishop  Chanche  began  to  col- 
lect documents  in  order  to  recover  it,  if  possible. 

After  convening  his  little  band  of  priests  in  a  retreat 
under  the  guidance  of  Rev.  John  Timon,  CM.,  in 
March,  1843,  Bishop  Chanche  revisited  Baltimore  to 
represent  his  diocese  in  the  Provincial  Council.^ 

'  Propagateur  Catholique,  i.,  p.  166. 

2  Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  pp.  46,  137.  Rt.  Rev.  J.  B.  Janssen, 
"  Sketch  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  City  of  Natchez,  Miss.,"  Natchez, 
1886,  pp.  1-23  ;  Salzbacher,  "Meine  Raise  nach  Nord  Amerika,"p.  316.. 


BOOK  V. 

CHAPTER  I. 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS. 

RT.  REV.  LEO  RAYMOND  DE  NECKERE,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1829-1833. 

Whex  Rt.  Rev,  Joseph  Rosati  was  allowed  to 
decline  the  see  of  New  Orleans,  and  became  Bishop  of 
St.  Louis,  he  strongly  recommended  for  the  vacant 
bishopric  the  saintly  and  eloquent  Rev.  Leo  Raymond 
de  Neckere,  already  known  and  esteemed  in  Louisiana. 
That  clergyman  was  then  in  Europe  with  the  hope  of 
regaining  health  and  strength.  Summoned  to  Rome 
he  was,  notwithstanding  his  protests,  elected  Bishop  of 
New  Orleans,  August  4,  1829.  Deeply  afflicted  at  this 
elevation  he  returned  to  Belgium,  and,  after  a  danger- 
ous illness,  having  regained  his  health  somewhat,  he 
returned  to  the  United  States.  After  another  fruitless 
effort  to  escape  the  dignity,  he  prepared  for  his  conse- 
cration, but  was  again  prostrated  by  a  complication  of 
diseases  at  St.  Genevieve.  Rallying,  however,  he 
reached  New  Orleans,  and,  overcome  by  the  entreaties, 
appeals,  and  arguments  of  Bishop  Portier,  consented 
to  accept  the  office  he  had  firmly  resolved  to  decline. 
He  was  consecrated  on  May  16,  1830,  in  the  Cathe- 
dral, by  Bishop  Rosati  of  St.  Louis,  assisted  by  Bishop 
Portier  and  Bishoj)  England. 

He  was  a  native  of  Belgium,  born  at  Wevelghem, 
June  6,  1800,  and  while  a  seminarian  at  Ghent  was  ac- 
cepted by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  for  his  diocese.  Complet- 
ing his  studies  at  the  Seminary  at  the  Barrens,  he  was 

666 


RT.  REV.  LEO  RAYMOND  DE  NECKERE,  FIRST  BISHOP  OF  NEW  ORLEANS. 


667 


DIOCESAN  SYNOD.  669 

ordained  October  13,  1822,  and  began  his  labors  as 
missionary  and  professor.  Sent  for  a  time  to  Louisiana, 
he  acquired  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all. 

Bishop  de  Neckere  inspired  his  clergy  with  zeal 
which  soon  bore  fruit.  The  energetic  priest  Rev. 
Anthony  Blanc  erected  a  neat  and  commodious  church 
at  Baton  Rouge  and  Rev.  Mr.  Lacroix  was  rivaling 
him.  And  when  Rev.  Mr.  Bernabe  died,  amid  labors 
at  Pointe  Coupee,  Rev.  Anthony  Blanc  visited  that 
parish  also.  At  N^ew  Orleans  steps  were  talien  to  erect 
a  church  on  Rousseau  Street  at  the  Port.^ 

Unable  to  endure  the  fatigue  of  long  journeys  re- 
quired by  a  regular  visitation  of  his  diocese,  Bishop  de 
Neckere  convoked  his  clergy  in  a  diocesan  synod. 
They  met  at  his  church  on  the  23d  of  February,  1832, 
and  entered  on  the  exercises  of  a  spiritual  retreat. 
On  Sunday,  the  26th,  after  a  high  mass,  twenty-one 
priests  attended  the  synod,  which  was  opened  accord- 
ing to  the  form  prescribed  by  the  pontifical.  The 
Bishop  took  his  seat  on  the  platform  of  the  altar,  sup- 
ported by  his  Vicars-General  V.  Rev.  B.  Richards  and 
Anthony  Blanc.  Rev.  Augustine  Jeanjean  was  secre- 
tary. Regulations  and  statutes  were  promulgated  for 
the  better  discipline,  and  stejDS  were  taken  to  form  an 
association  for  the  dissemination  of  good  books.     At 

'  Circular  of  Bishop  Rosati  to  Clergy  of  New  Orleans  diocese,  Jesuit, 
i.,  p.  218  ;  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi.,  iv.,  pp.  665,  677.  U. 
S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  pp.  22,  238.  While  the  Bishop  elect  was 
slowly  regaining  strength  at  St.  Genevieve,  Bishops  Rosati,  Portier,  and 
England,  who  had  reached  New  Orleans,  wrote  a  joint  letter  to  Rome, 
May  6,  1830,  urging  that  his  resignation  should  not  be  accepted,  but,  in 
case  the  Holy  Father  yielded,  proposing  Rev.  A.  Blanc  and  Rev.  A. 
Jeanjean.  While  awaiting  the  arrival  of  Dr.  De  Neckere,  Bishop  Rosati 
performed  his  last  official  acts  as  administrator,  laying  the  corner-stone  of 
a  church  at  St.  Michel,  and  consecrating  the  chapel  of  the  Ursulines  at 
New  Orleans.     Annales,  etc.,  iv.,  p.  666. 


670      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE   UNITED  STATES. 

the  close  of  tlie  synod,  Bishop  de  Neckere  offered  the 
holy  sacrifice  for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of  deceased 
imests.^ 

The  year  was  one  of  sickness.  Cholera  and  fevers 
swept  many  away,  and  the  diocese  lost  its  Vicar-Gen- 
eral Richards,  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Martial  and  Tichitoli. 
When  winter  set  in  the  Bishop  wrote  :  "  New  Orleans 
has  been  severely  visited  by  the  scourging  angel,  but 
thanks  be  to  God,  except  a  few  cases,  it  has  entirely 
subsided.  All  our  Sisters  of  Charity  have  been  sick, 
either  with  the  cholera  or  the  yellow  fever ;  none, 
however,  have  sunk  under  the  disease.  The  epidemic 
seems  now  to  be  extending  to  the  western  district  of 
this  State.  "2 

The  next  year  the  fatal  disease  which  had  been 
lurking  in  the  bayous  and  swamps  of  Louisiana  again 
began  its  ravages.  Yellow  fever  pervaded  New 
Orleans.  Bishop  de  Neckere  had  retired  to  Saint 
Michel  to  gain  some  strength  ;  but,  when  he  heard  of 
his  people  dying  in  his  episcopal  city,  he  returned 
against  all  advice  and  entreaties.  He  gave  himself 
entirely  to  his  ministry  among  the  plague-stricken,  and 
to  measures  for  their  relief.  His  enfeebled  frame  soon 
yielded,  he  was  seized  with  the  fever,  and  in  ten  days 
from  his  arrival  breathed  his  last,  on  the  5th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1833.' 

If  Bishop  de  Neckere,  from  his  infirm  health,  could 

'  U.  S.  Ciith.  Miscellany,  xi.,  pp.  343-3  ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  i.,  p. 
191  ;  Jesuit,  iv.,  p.  87 ;  Salzbacher,  "  Meine  Reise  nach  Nord  Amerika," 
p.  310  ;  Delia  Chiesa  Cattolica  negli  Stati  Uniti  d'America,  Verona,  1835, 
p.  39. 

'  Bishop  de  Neckere  to  Rev.  John  Timon,  Nov.  30,  1833.  Catholic 
Telegraph,  i.,  p.  367;  ii.,  p.  179. 

3  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiii.,  p.  84  ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  ii.,  p.  375  ;  Truth 
Teller,  ix.,  p.  309. 


SEDE  VACANTE.  671 

not  accomplish  mnch  for  his  diocese,  he  edified  liis 
flock  by  his  holy  life,  and  by  the  discharge  of  his 
duties.  In  one  of  his  last  letters  from  Saint  Michel, 
speaking  of  the  death  of  one  of  his  priests,  he  said : 
"One  more  vacancy  added  to  the  many  already  exist- 
ing :  no  college,  no  seminary,  no  priest  in  the  wliole 
State  of  Mississippi."^  It  was  to  meet  such  wants 
that  he  felt  to  multiply  himself  beyond  measure. 

By  his  death  the  administration  devolved  on  his 
Vicar-General,  Very  Rev.  Anthony  Blanc,  who  had 
already  refused  to  become  coadjutor  to  Bishop  de 
Neckere,  and  on  Very  Rev.  V.  Ladaviere,  In  Novem- 
ber a  colony  of  Sisters  of  Charity  set  out  from  Balti- 
more to  take  charge  of  a  hospital  in  New  Orleans, 
undeterred  by  any  fear  of  pestilence.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  1834  the  diocese  contained  twenty-two  priests, 
but  seven  churches  and  parishes  were  vacant,  and 
others  depended  on  occasional  visits.  Seven  Sisters 
of  Charity  were  in  charge  of  thePoydras  Asylum,  and 
ten  of  the  Charity  Hospital. 

The  priest  first  selected  to  fill  the  vacancy  was  the 
Rev.  Augustine  Jeanjean,  but  he  returned  the  bulls, 
and  left  New  Orleans. 

1  Bishop  de  Neckere  to  Rev.  John  Timon,  Oct.  17,  1830. 


CHAPTER  II. 

DIOCESE  OF  NEW  ORLEANS. 

RT.  BEV.  ANTHONY  BLANC,  SECOND  BISHOP,  1835-1843. 

The  Very  Rev.  Anthony  Blanc,  who  was  then  ap- 
pointed to  the  see  of  New  Orleans  and  required  to 
accept  the  burden,  was  born  at  Sury,  in  southern 
France,  October  11,  1792.  Entering  a  seminary  after 
his  college  course  he  was  ordained  priest  in  1816,  and, 
having  been  accepted  by  Bishop  Du  Bourg  for  the 
Louisiana  mission,  he  landed  at  Annapolis  in  Septem- 
ber, 1817.  After  some  months  labor  at  Vincennes  he 
was  summoned  to  Louisiana,  where  he  displayed  zeal, 
energy,  and  judgment.  Bishop  de  Neckere,  who 
wished  to  resign,  in  vain  endeavored  to  induce  Rev, 
Mr.  Blanc  to  accept  the  bulls  appointing  him  coad- 
jutor in  1832.' 

He  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  in  the 
Cathedral  of  that  city,  on  the  22d  of  November,  1835, 
by  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Rosati,  Bishop  of  St.  Louis, 
assisted  by  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  Purcell,  Bishop  of  Cin- 
cinnati, and  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  Portier,  Bishop  of 
Mobile.  The  sermon  was  delivered  by  Rt.  Rev.  Dr. 
Portier.^ 

The  newly  consecrated  bishop  saw  much  to  be  done, 
and  yet  beheld  the  ranks  of  the  priests  of  Louisiana 
gradually  thinning  by  death.  His  brother  died  at 
Natchitoches  ;  the   next  year  Rev.  Mr.  Borella,  who 

'  Very  Rev.  A.  Blanc  to  Archbishop  Eccleston,  Sept.  8,  1834  ;  Bishop 
Portier  to  same,  Oct.  30,  1834;  Weekly  Register,  iii.,  p.  153. 

*  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xv.,  p.  306 ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  v.,  p.  33  ; 
Catholic  Diary,  v.,  p.  71. 

673 


BT.  KEV.  ANTHONY  BLANC,  SECOND  BISHOP  OF 
NEW  ORLEANS. 


673 


REV.  PIERRE  CONNOLLY.  675 

had  for  fifteen  years  directed  the  parish  of  St.  Martin, 
descended  to  the  grave. 

A  remarkable  conversion  of  this  time,  in  the  juris- 
diction of  Bishop  Blanc,  was  that  of  Rev.  Pierce  Con- 
nolly, an  Episcopalian  clergyman  of  Natchez,  whose 
studies  led  him  to  acknowledge  the  claims  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  He  was  received  into  the  Church 
with  his  wife  at  New  Orleans,  but  soon  after  pro- 
ceeded to  Europe,  where  he  became  a  priest  and 
where  she  founded  a  community  of  Sisters  which 
effected  much  good  in  the  cause  of  sound  Catholic 
education.^ 

To  meet  this  want  of  priests  and  to  provide  the 
sorely  needed  college  for  young  men,  Mgr.  Blanc 
resolved  to  call  upon  the  Society  of  Jesus,  whose 
patent  for  the  Louisiana  mission  was  written  in  the 
blood  of  its  martyred  sons,  and  sealed  with  the  suffer- 
ings of  its  confessors  of  the  faith.  He  went  to  Europe 
in  the  year  1836,  and  applying  to  V.  Rev.  'Father 
Guidee,  the  Provincial,  obtained  a  colony  of  eight 
members,  with  whom  he  reached  New  Orleans  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1837.  The  Superior  was  Rev.  Father  Peter 
Ladaviere,  who  had  already  visited  Louisiana.  The 
erection  of  a  college  at  Grand  Coteau  was  soon  com- 
menced, and  its  opening  was  fixed  for  January  5, 
1838,  but,  that  being  Friday,  it  was  regarded  as  un- 
lucky and  not  a  scholar  appeared.  Before  the  end  of 
the  month,  however,  they  had  twentj^-four  boarders, 
and  they  closed  the  first  scholastic  term  with  fifty-six. 
The  Fathers  not  employed  at  the  College  aided  the 
diocese  by  doing  missionary  duty.^ 

'  Weekly  Register,  ii.,  p.  231  ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  v  ,  p.  127. 

'  Catholic  Telegraph,  v.,  p.  30,  etc. 

^  Archives  of  the  Mission.     Bishop  Blanc,  like  the  other  bishops  in  the 


676       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Having  thus  provided  for  a  college,  v^ith  a  perma- 
nent body  to  supply  professors  and  teachers,  Bishop 
Blanc  applied  to  Yery  Rev.  John  Timon,  Visitor  of 
the  Priests  of  the  Mission,  and  on  the  20th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1838,  the  Lazarists  agreed  to  assume  the  direction 
of  the  Diocesan  Seminary  at  a  stipulated  sum  to  be 
paid  for  each  ecclesiastic  received.^ 

Relieved  in  mind  from  these  two  heavy  responsi- 
bilities, the  Bishop  next  sought  to  make  permanent 
Catholic  establishments  in  the  Vicariate  Apostolic 
of  Mississippi.  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Timon  began  the  work 
at  Natchez  and  by  his  patient  influence  induced  the 
people  to  erect  a  house  for  the  services  of  their  relig- 
ion. Visits  vv^ere  made  by  priests  to  Vicksburg,  but 
the  people  anxiously  petitioned  for  a  resident  clergy- 
man.^ 

Meanwhile  the  trustees  of  St.  Louis  Cathedral 
obtained  from  the  Legislature,  on  the  11th  of  March, 
1837,  permission  to  mortgage  the  Bishop's  Cathedral 
for  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  carry  out  projects 
of  their  own.  They  sent  an  agent  to  Europe  to  effect 
a  loan,  but  he  wasted  two  thousand  dollars  in  his  vain 
effort.  =■ 

While  these  men  were  thus  squandering  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Church,  Bishop  Blanc,  sustained  by  his 
clergy  and  faithful  Catholics,  was  laboring  in  the 
cause  of  religion  and  charity.  The  corner-stone  of 
St.  Patrick's  Church  was  laid  July  1,  1838,  and  in  No- 
vember, 1839,  the-  Bishop  laid  the  corner-stone  of  St. 

country,  responded  to  the  appeal  of  Dr.  England.  Letter,  Sept.  8,  1838, 
Catholic  Advocate,  iii.,  p.  291. 

'  Agreement  between  Anthony,  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  and  Very 
Rev.  John  Timon,  New  Orleans,  Dec.  20,  1838. 

«  Bishop  Blanc  to  Rev.  John  Timon,  July  11,  1839. 

"  Propagateur  Catholique,  i. ,  p.  23. 


MARTYRS  OF  CHARITY. 


677 


Patrick's  Orphan  Asylum.  In  1841  the  city  was 
again  desolated  by  fever.  Bishop  Blanc  wrote  in 
September:  "We  have  been  already  live  or,  rather, 
fall  six  weeks  fighting  the 
battle  with  the  yellow  fever, 
which  is  still  raging  in  our 
city.  Poor,  unacclimated 
strangers  die  very  fast  of  it. 
Our  charity  hospital  is 
crowded  with  four  hundred 
patients,  and  sometimes 
above  that  number.  We 
have  had  the  misfortune  to 
lose  some  of  our  Sisters  of 
Charity  ;  two  are  yet  sick, 
but  I  hope  they  will  sur- 
vive." ' 

Yet  amid  all  this  Bishop 
Blanc  began  the  erection  of 
another  church  in  New  Or- 
leans, laying  the  corner- 
stone in  November  and  dedicating  it  to  the  service  of 
God  in  August  of  the  following  year,  under  the  invo- 
cation of  St.  Augustine. 

The  erection  of  new  churches  in  different  parts  of 
New  Orleans  diminished  greatly  the  congregation  of 
the  old  Cathedral,  and  the  trustees,  or  wardens,  seeing 
their  influence  wane,  entered  on  a  new  war  against 
religion.  On  the  death  of  Rev.  John  Aloysius  Moni, 
in  1842,  the  Bishop  appointed  Rev.  C.  Maenhaut  rector 

'  Catholic  Register,  i.,  p.  101  ;  Bishop  Blanc  to  V.  Rev.  J.  Timon, 
Sept.  33,  1841.  Death  deprived  the  Church  the  same  year  of  V. 
Rev.  Augustus  Jeanjean,  and  Rev.  John  Anduzio,  the  faithful  pastor 
of  St.  Joseph's,  Thibodeauxville  ;  Catholic  Almanac,  1843.  "  A  discourse 
delivered  at  the  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner-stone  of  St.  Patrick's 
Church  in  New  Orleans,  etc.,"  by  Rev.  J.  J.  Mullon,  New  Orleans,  1838. 


ST.    PATRICK  S   CHTJRCH,  NEW 
OULEANS. 


678       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  the  Cathedral,  but  the  trustees  refused  to  recognize 
him,  claiming  the  right  of  patronage  formerly  enjoyed 
by  the  King  of  Spain.  They  brought  an  action 
against  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  in  the  parish  court 
of  the  city,  presenting  a  petition  full  of  misstatements. 
Their  only  title  to  the  property  was  based  on  a  forci- 
ble seizure  in  1805 ;  the  right  of  patronage  had  never 
been  transferred  to  them  by  the  Spanish  monarch, 
and  could  not  be  conferred  by  either  Federal  or  State 
government.  Judge  Maurian  decided  against  the 
trustees,  and  they  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court, 
which  confirmed  the  decision  of  the  parish  court. 
Judge  Bullard  declared:  "The  right  to  nominate  a 
curate   (parisli   priest)    or    the  juspatronatus   of  the 

SIGNATURE   OF   BISHOP   BLANC,  OF   NEW   ORLEANS. 

Spanish  law  is  abrogated  in  this  State.  The  war- 
dens ....  cannot  compel  the  Bishop  to  institute  a 
curate  (parish  priest)  of  their  appointment,  nor  is  lie, 
in  any  legal  sense,  subordinate  to  the  wardens  of  any 
one  of  the  churches  within  his  diocese  in  relation  to 
his  clerical  functions."  A  rehearing,  claimed  by  the 
wardens,  was  refused.  The  Supreme  Court  thus  up- 
held the  decision  of  the  Holy  See. 

But  these  trustees  were  still  bent  on  annoyance. 
They  refused  to  recognize  three  of  the  curates  or  vicars, 
and  the  chaplain  of  the  hospital ;  when  the  Bishop 
appointed  Rev.  Mr.  Jamey  one  of  the  curates,  they 
replied  with  terms  of  insult.  They  even  attempted 
to  exclude  the  clergy  from  part  of  the  parochial 
residence.  Bishop  Blanc  addressed  the  Board  of  War- 
dens on  the  21st  of  October,  inclosing  a  letter  to  them 
from    Rev.   Mr.   Maenhaut.      Receiving  no   reply   he 


TRUSTEEISM.  679 

wrote  them  again  on  the  27th  ;  *  but  as  they  still 
declined  to  recognize  his  authority,  the  clergy  with- 
drew t'roni  the  Cathedral  and  parochial  residence  on 
the  2d  of  November,  and  the  parishioners  were 
attended  from  the  Bishop's  house  and  St.  Augustine's 
Church.-  One  of  the  members  of  the  board  was  also  a 
member  of  the  council  of  one  of  the  municipalities. 
He  obtained  the  passage  of  an  ordinance  punishing  by 
a  fine  of  fifty  dollars  any  Catholic  priest  who  per- 
formed the  burial  service  over  a  dead  body  in  any 
church  except  the  mortuary  chapel,  erected  in  1826, 
over  which  the  wardens  of  the  Cathedral  claimed  con- 
trol. Under  the  strange  ordinance  aimed  in  terms  at 
Catholic  priests  only.  Rev.  Bernard  Permoli  was 
prosecuted  December  19th,  1842.  Judge  Preval  held 
the  ordinance  to  be  illegal ;  but  the  case  was  carried 
up  to  the  City  Court  and  finally  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.' 

The  faithful  Catholics  of  St.  Patrick's  Church  met 
to  protest  against  these  outrageous  proceedings  and 
the  insults  offered  to  the  Archbishop.  The  tide  of 
public  opinion  was  setting  strongly  against  the  men 
who  defied  all  authority  in  the  Church.  In  January, 
1843,  they  submitted,  and  received  as  parish  priest, 
Rev.  Mr.  Bach,  who  had  been  regularly  appointed  by 
the  Bishop,  but  who  died  in  September, 

Bishop  Blanc  gave  a  retreat  to  his  clergy  in  March, 
followed  by  a  mission  for  the  faithful.  Soon  after,  the 
true  Catholics  of  the  city  petitioned  the  Legislature  to 
amend  the  act  incorporating  the  Cathedral  and  bring 

'  Letter,  Rev.  C.  Maenhaut,  etc.,  to  Bishop  Blanc,  Oct.  19, 1842  ;  Bishop 
Blanc  to  Trustees,  Oct.  21,  27, 1842,  in  Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  p.  346. 

'  Bishop  Blanc  Archbishop  Eccleston,  Nov.  4,  1842. 

3  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  No  84,  Permoli  vs.  Munici- 
pality, No.  1. 


680       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

it  into  harmony  with  the  discipline  of  the  Catholic 
Church. 

In  April  the  Bishop,  by  a  circular,  directed  prayers 
for  the  Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore,  to  which  he 
soon  set  out.' 

'  Propagateur  Catliolique,  i.,  pp.  71,151,  268,  308,  318;  Catholic 
Herald,  xi.,  pp.  375,  390  ;  xii.,  p.  222  ;  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  ii.,  pp. 
253,  755  ;  iii  ,  pp.  154,  199  ;  iv.,  p.  263  ;  Salzbachcr,  "  Meine  Reise  nack 
Nord  Amerika,"  p.  310. 


SEAL   OF   BISHOP 
BLANC. 


CHAPTER  III. 

DIOCESE  OF  ST.  LOUIS. 
RT.  REV.  JOSEPH  R  OS  ATI,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1829-1843. 

While  the  Bishop  of  St.  Louis  was  attending  the 
Provincial  Council  of  Baltimore  six  ecclesiastics 
reached  his  episcopal  city.'  It  was  a  strange  effect  of 
the  revolutions  that  had  taken  place  throughout 
Christendom  that  these  gentlemen  came  from  Mexico, 
which  had  had  its  episcopate  for  three  centuries  and 
had  its  provincial  councils  as  early  as  1555  ;  but  in 
which,  at  this  time,  not  a  Catholic  bishop  was  left. 
They  came  from  the  dioceses  of  Mechoacan  and  Guada- 
lajara to  a  see  in  the  heart  of  the  United  States,  not 
ten  years  erected,  in  order  to  obtain  ordination.  Early 
in  1830  Bishop  Rosati  could  write  with  a  sense  of  great 
relief:  "Our  holy  Father  the  Pope  has  benignantly 
relieved  me  of  the  diocese  of  New  Orleans,  the  adminis- 
tration of  which  made  it  impossible  for  me  to  give  the 
necessary  attention  to  my  own  diocese  of  St.  Louis." 
"  Now  I  can  begin  to  carry  out  my  long-formed  plans 
for  its  improvement. "  "In  Arkansas  Territory,  where 
there  are  more  than  two  thousand  scattered  Catholics, 
there  is  not  a  single  priest,  nor  has  any  missionary 
visited  it  since  Rev.  Mr.  Odin  did  some  years  ago. 
There  is  not  a  priest  in  the  whole  State  of  Illinois,  and 
visits  to  it  are  few  ;  yet  there  are  far  more  Catholics 
there  than  in  Arkansas." 

Bishop  Rosati  was  enabled  by  the  grants  of  the 
Association  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Faith  to  pay  off 

1  Jesuit!.,  p.  188. 
681 


682       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  creditors  who  had  sold  the  church  property  in  St. 
Louis.  ^  The  Jesuit  Fathers  were  advancing  in  their 
work.  They  attended  St.  Charles,  St.  Ferdinand,  Port- 
age aux  Sioux,  and  Dardennes.  Their  Indian  school 
Florissant  began  to  attract  white  pupils,  of  whom, 
in  1828-29,  it  had  fifteen.  A  college  attempted  at 
at  St.  Louis  had  been  abandoned  in  1826,  and  when  the 
Bishop  offered  the  Society  a  site  on  Ninth  Street  and 
Christy  Avenue,  given  by  Mr.  Jeremiah  Conners  for  a 
college,  they  acquired  some  adjoining  property,  and  in 
the  autumn  of  1828  began  the  erection  of  a  building 
fifty  feet  by  forty.  It  was  then  well  out  of  town,  sur- 
rounded by  farms  and  x>ontls-  St.  Louis  College 
opened  with  forty  pupils,  November  2,  1829,  Rev.  P.  J. 
Verhaegan  being  the  first  president.  Rev.  P.  J. 
De  Smet  and  Rev.  J.  A.  Elet  were  professors.  In  a 
month  the  College  numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty 
pupils,  and  its  success  was  so  great  that  in  less  than 
two  years  an  additional  building  was  undertaken.'^ 

Bishop  Rosati  was  consoled  in  1830  to  see  no  fewer 
than  six  churches  rising  in  his  diocese,  a  new  cathedral 
in  St.  Louis,  the  church  Rev.  John  M.  Odin  was  build- 
ing near  the  Barrens,  a  fine  church  at  St.  Genevieve, 
another  at  Old  Mines,  one  at  Apple  River,  due  to  the 
generosity  of  Mr.  Snowbush  ;  the  church  Rev.  Mr. 
Cellini  was  erecting  at  Fredericktown.  During  the 
summer  he  visited  many  of  the  churches  in  Missouri 
and  Illinois,  and  was  able  to  fill  some  vacancies  with 
zealous  priests. 

The  church  was  spreading  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
State  on  the  Mississippi  River,  and  places  where  five 

*  Bishop  Rosati,  Jan.  24,  April  25,  1830,  in  Annales  de  la  Propagation 
delaFoi,  iv.,  pp.  593,  595. 

"  Hill,  "  Historical  Sketch  of  St.  Louis  University,"  St.  Louis,  1879,  pp. 
37-41. 


•    CONVETAT  KASKASKIA.  683 

years  before  not  half  a  dozen  Catholics  could  be  found, 
now  numbered  hundreds.  Seventy  German  Catholics 
settled  in  one  body  on  Apple  River.  At  St.  Louis 
Bishop  Rosati  transformed  an  old  college  building 
into  St.  Mary's  church,  destined  especially  for  the 
colored  Catholics,  of  whom  it  could  accommodate  five 
or  six  hundred.^ 

The  College  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  was  formally  in- 
corporated by  the  Missouri  Legislature  on  the  28th  of 
December,  1832,  under  the  title  of  St.  Louis  Univer- 
sity, with  ample  powers.^ 

During  the  year  the  first  Catholic  newspaper  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  "The  Shepherd  of  the  Valley," 
appeared. 

Bishop  Rosati  was  at  this  time  able  to  ordain  sev- 
eral priests  for  his  diocese,  one  of  whom  set  out  at 
once  for  Arkansas  Territory,  November  31,  to  aid  Rev. 
Ed.  Saulnier  in  his  mission  there. ^  The  Illinois  por- 
tion of  his  diocese  welcomed  this  same  year  a  colony 
of  seven  Visitation  Nuns  from  Georgetown,  who,  under 
Mother  Agnes  Brent,  left  their  monastery  on  the  Po- 
tomac to  establish  May  3,  1833,  an  academy  in  the 
ancient  town  of  Kaskaskia.  This  first  house  of  relig- 
ious women  in  Illinois  did  not  receive  the  support  for 
its  academy  which  had  been  anticipated,  much  as  it 
was  needed,  and  difiiculties  impeded  its  progress. 
Mother  Seraphine  Wickham,  however,  who  became 
Superior  in  1839,  raised  the  academy  to  a  high  degree 
of  efficiency  ;  but  the  floods  of  the  Mississippi  in  1844 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  x.,  p.  174;  xi.,  p.  14  ;  Catholic  Intelligencer, 
iii.,  p.  373.  Rev.  John  Timon  to  Bishop  Rosati,  Mar.  4,  1832  ;  Bishop 
Rosati  to  Rev.  J.  Timon,  Feb.  26,  1832. 

«  Hill  "Historical  Sketch,"  p.  43  ;  "  Laws  of  Missouri,"  1824-1836,  ii. 
p.  298. 

^  Catholic  Telegraph,  i.,  p.  93-4. 


684      THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

drove  the  Visitation  nuns  from  the  convent  and  they 
removed  to  St,  Louis. '^ 

The  Bishop  had  been  able,  by  the  arrival  of  some 
clergymen  from  France,  to  station  Rev.  Mr.  Paillasson 
there,  so  that  the  nuns  were  enabled  to  have  the  con- 
solation of  mass  offered  in  their  convent. 

His  cathedral  was  at  last  rising,  a  church  was  dedi- 
cated at  Florissant,  and  the  Catholics  at  Richwood, 
English  Settlement,  Mine  a  la  Motte,  and  Gravois 
were  exerting  themselves  to  comj^lete  theirs.  At  St. 
Genevieve  the  church  was  nearly  finished. 

The  diocese  in  1831  comprised  St.  Louis  with  4000 
Catholics,  the  Bishop,  and  four  priests ;  a  hospital 
conducted  by  eight  Sisters  of  Charity,  and  able  to  con- 
tain eighty  patients.  Florissant,  with  480  Catholics, 
attended  by  two  Jesuit  Fathers  ;  an  academy  and  free 
school  under  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  whose 
novitiate  was  elsewhere.  St.  Charles  with  one  thou- 
sand Catholics,  also  under  the  Fathers  of  the  Society, 
a  convent  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  and  free  schools  for 
boys  and  girls ;  one  of  the  Fathers  here  was  con- 
stantly visiting  the  churches  at  Portage  aux  Sioux, 
and  Dardenne,  as  well  as  more  distant  stations.  St. 
Genevieve  and  Old  Mines,  each  with  a  Catholic  popu- 
lation of  two  thousand,  had  resident  priests.  The 
seminary  at  the  Barrens  had  twenty-five  students, 
nine  in  theology ;  and  there  were  100  j)upils  in  the 
College.  The  Priests  of  the  Mission  attended  the 
church,  with  1600  Catholics  lying  around.  New  Mad- 
rid, with  640  Catholics,  had  no  resident  priest.  Nor 
was   there  one  in  Arkansas.      In  Illinois  there  were 

'  Annals  of  the  Visitation.  Mother  Agnes  Brent,  daughter  of  William 
Chandler  Brent,  after  being  Superior  at  Georgetown,  Kaskaskia,  St. 
Louis,  and  Mobile,  died  ciously  Sept.  15, 1877.  Mother  SeraphineWick- 
haiQ  was  a  native  of  Philadelphia  ;  she  died  just  one  week  later. 


•       INDIAN  MISSIONS.  685 

three  priests  with  flocks  estimated  at  4168.  In  Missouri 
Territory  there  were  reckoned  two  thousand  Catholics, 
among  whom  priests  were  laboring.  Bishop  Rosati 
was  soon  able  to  send  priests  to  Kaskaskia,  New 
Madrid,  and  Arkansas. 

The  Indian  Mission  among  the  Kansas  was  directed 
by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Latz  and  Pail- 
lasson  had  just  begun  an  Indian  Mission  at  Prairie  du 
Chien.i 

During  the  summer  of  1832  the  cholera  reached  St. 
Louis,  and,  when  no  one  could  be  found  to  attend  the 
hospital  opened  by  the  city  authorities  for  tliose  at- 
tacked, the  Sisters  of  Charity  received  them  all  into 
their  hospital.^ 

The  utmost  harmony  prevailed  in  the  diocese,  but 
the  spirit  of  falsehood,  alarmed  at  the  progress  of  the 
truth,  represented  it  as  divided  into  two  hostile  par- 
ties. Bishop  Rosati  promptly  refuted  the  slander.^ 
Later  in  the  year  a  Methodist  clergyman  attempted  to 
meet  Rev.  R.  S,  Abell  in  a  controversy  at  St.  Gene- 
vieve, but  was  so  utterly  defeated  that  he  Avithdrew, 
announcing  that  he  would  reply  to  the  priest  four 
weeks  from  that  day.* 

The  cholera  in  1833  was  more  deadly  in  its  ravages  ; 
requiring  the  constant  ministry  of  the  clergy  and  the 
devoted  care  of  the  Sisters  of  Charitj^  Two  ladies  of 
the  Sacred  Heart  died  of  it  in  September.^ 

During  the  summer  the  Catholic  body  sustained  a 
severe  loss  in  the  death  of  Mr.  John  Mullanphy,  the 
friend  of  the  orphan  and  the  poor,  whose  liberality  to 

'  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  v.,  p.  563. 

*  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  iv.,  p.  663  ;  vii.,  p.  113. 
3  Letter,  March  6,  1833  ;  Truth  Teller,  viii.,  p.  140. 

*  Bishop  Rosati  to  Rev.  J.  Timon,  Dec.  18,  1832. 

5  Baunard,  "  The  Life  of  Mother  Duchesne,"  1879,  p.  314. 


686       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  Church  had  been  unbounded.  He  gave  twenty- 
five  acres  of  land  to  the  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
on  condition  that  they  supported  perpetually  twenty 
orphan  girls.  He  founded  and  endowed  the  hospital 
of  the  Sisters  of  Charity.  A  native  of  Youghal, 
Ireland,  he  showed  his  energy  in  the  West  by  build- 
ing a  ship  on  the  Kentucky  River,  which  he  sent  down 
to  the  sea.  He  subsequently  dealt  extensively  in 
cotton,  and  owned  the  bales  used  by  Gen.  Jackson  in 
the  Battle  of  New  Orleans,  These,  at  the  peace,  he 
sold  in  England,  accumulating  a  large  fortune.  His 
well-spent  life  was  closed  by  a  happy  death  at  St. 
Louis,  August  29,  1833. 

Notwithstanding  the  cholera,  the  Jubilee  exercises 
appointed  by  the  Bishop  were  attended  by  great 
numbers  of  the  faithful,  producing  much  good.^ 

Conversions  were  constant ;  the  example  of  good 
Catholics,  the  devoted  lives  of  j>riests  and  religious  all 
combined  to  lead  many  to  the  faith.  During  the 
cholera,  many  who  held  back  in  health  called  for  the 
ministry  of  the  priest.  In  a  Protestant  family  where 
Rev.  Mr.  Odin  was  in  the  habit  of  stopping,  a  little 
boy  eight  years  old  seemed  drawn  by  remarkable  grace 
to  the  Church.  He  learned  the  catechism  of  his  own 
accord,  and  when  the  cholera  broke  out  begged  his 
mother  to  have  him  baptized,  but  she  put  him  ofi'. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  attacked,  and  he  con- 
stantly asked  to  be  baptized.  None  of  the  family 
knew  that  they  could  administer  the  sacrament,  and 
he  died  with  the  baptism  of  desire.  Influenced  by 
this  the  whole  family  sought  instruction  and  became 
Catholics.^ 

'  Catholic  Telegraph,  iii.,  p.  54. 

'  Odin,  "  Breve  Ragguaglio  della  Chiesa  Catholica  negli  Stati  Unlti  di 
America,  oflferto  alia  Santita,"  etc. 


CATHEDRAL   OF  ST.  LOUIS.  687 

As  early  as  1830  Bishop  Rosati  set  about  erecting  a 
cathedral  worthy  of  his  growing  diocese,  but,  owing 
to  the  difficulties  which  environed  him,  it  was  not 
completed  till  1834.  At  the  time  it  was  regarded  as  a 
remarkable  piece  of  architecture.  It  was  134  feet  long 
by  84  feet  wide.  The  front  was  of  finely  polished 
stone  ;  on  either  side  was  a  tablet  inscribed  in  French 
or  English  :  "  My  house  shall  be  called  the  house  of 
prayer."  Above  the  three  doors,  you  read  in  Latin, 
French,  and  English  :  "Behold  the  tabernacle  of  God 
with  men,  and  He  will  dwell  with  them."  The  facade 
consisted  of  four  Doric  columns,  with  an  inscription 
on  the  friese  above,  "  In  honorem  Sancti  Ludovici, 
Deo  uni  et  trino  dicatum,  anno  MDCCC XXXIV."  A 
tall  spire  rose  from  the  front  of  the  edifice.  It  was 
solemnly  consecrated  on  the  26tli  of  October,  1834. 
Bishop  Rosati  invited  for  the  occasion  the  Bishops  of 
Bardstown  and  Cincinnati,  and  the  Bishop  elect  of 
Vincennes,  offering  his  new  cathedral  for  the  cere- 
nio-ny  of  the  consecration  of  Dr.  Brute.  The  three 
fine  bells  ordered  for  the  belfry  arrived  in  time  and 
were  duly  blessed.  On  the  appointed  day,  amid  such 
a  concourse  as  St.  Louis  had  never  seen,  the  procession 
moved  from  the  old  cathedral.  All  the  ceremonies 
prescribed  in  the  Roman  Pontifical  were  followed 
within  and  without.  A  solemn  high  mass  was  then 
offered,  with  a  dedication  sermon  preached  by  the 
Bishop  of  Cincinnati. 

On  the  28th,  feast  of  St.  Simon  and  St.  Jude,  Rt. 
Rev.  Simon  Gabriel  Brute,  Bishop  of  Vincennes,  was 
consecrated  in  this  noble  building  by  Rt.  Rev.  Dr. 
Flaget,  assisted  by  the  Bishops  of  St.  Louis  and  Cin- 
cinnati. In  a  visitation  soon  after.  Bishop  Rosati  re- 
ceived the  profession  of  Miss  Jane  Barber,  the  youngest 


688       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  the  family,  as  a  Visitation  nun  at  Kaskaskia.^  He 
had  succeeded  in  j)lacing  a  priest,  Rev,  Mr.  Doutreligne, 
at  Cahokia,  but  that  clergyman  encountered  opposi- 
tion, so  that  the  Bishop  wi'ote  firmly  that,  "  If  they  re- 
sisted the  authority  of  the  Ciiurch  he  must  remove  the 
priest  to  others  who  can  appreciate  his  ministry  bet- 
ter." It  was  almost  a  solitary  case  of  rebellion  against 
this  gentle  and  devoted  bisho^D.^ 

The  diocese  was  soon  after  menaced  with  a  serious 
misfortune.  The  seminary  and  college  at  the  Barrens 
had  been  productive  of  vast  good  to  souls,  but  the 
Congregation  of  the  Priests  of  the  Mission  had  not  suc- 
ceeded in  freeing  their  property  from  debts  which  be- 
came so  formidable  that  the  Superior  General  resolved 
to  recall  all  his  priests.  He  ordered  the  College  to  be 
suppressed,  and  the  Seminary  also,  unless  the  Bishop 
paid  a  fixed  sum  for  each  seminarian,  and  he  ordered 
-all  the  priests  of  the  Congregation,  engaged  in  parochial 
work,  to  resign  their  positions.  The  Bishop  could  not 
enter  into  a  contest  with  an  order  to  which  he  was 
himself  endeared  by  so  many  ties.  He  forwarded  his 
observations  to  the  Superior  General  and  also  to  the 
Sacred  Congregation  de  Propaganda  Fide,  and  to  the 
Pope  himself.  It  was  providential  that  at  this  very 
time  Rev.  John  Timon,  whom  he  had  solicited  as 
Coadjutor,  was  appointed  Visitor  of  the  Lazarists  in 

'  Bishop  Rosati  to  the  Pope,  Nov.  3,  1834,  with  description  of  Catlie- 
dral  and  dedication.  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  viii.,  pp.  267- 
287;  Catliolic  Telegraph,  iv.,  p.  406;  Jesuit,  v.,  p.  388;  U.  S.  Cath. 
jVIiscellany,  xiv.,  p.  182  ;  Catholic  Diary,  v.,  p.  6,  etc  ;  Doherty,  "Ad- 
dress on  the  Centenary  of  the  Cathedral  Church,"  St.  Louis,  1876,  p.  11  ; 
Bishop  Rosati  to  Archbishop  Eccleston,  Dec.  29,  1834,  Weekly  Register, 
iii.,  p.  338.  The  Cathedral  was  the  fifth  church  consecrated  by  Bishop 
Rosati,  the  others  being  St.  Charles  and  St.  Ferdinand,  St.  Joachim  at 
Old  Mines,  and  St.  James,  Potosi. 

*  Bishop  Rosati  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Doutreligne,  March  20,  1835. 


PROGRESS.  689 

the  United  States.  That  able  and  laborious  priest 
shrank  from  the  position  of  Visitor,  but  finally 
yielded.  He  urged  a  suspension  of  the  orders  sent, 
restored  community  life  at  the  Barrens,  and  by  his 
judgment,  exertions,  and  economy  placed  their  estab- 
lishments in  such  a  position  that  the  Superior  General 
allowed  the  college  to  continue,  and  Bishop  Rosati  on 
his  side  labored  successfully  to  put  the  seminary  in  a 
flourishing  condition.^ 

Near  his  cathedral  in  May,  1855,  the  Bishop  laid  the 
corner-stone  of  a  new  Ori3lian  Asylum  for  girls,  of 
which  he  had  given  the  site.^ 

In  his  visitations  in  the  following  year  he  found 
that  priests  zealously  attending  to  their  flocks  had 
revived  the  faith  and  the  practice  of  their  duties 
among  the  faithful.  He  saw  this  too  strikingly  mani- 
fested in  the  churches  and  institutions  of  St.  Louis  at 
Christmas.  Cahokia,  under  an  energetic  priest,  aided 
by  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  showed  a  new  spirit  when  he 
visited  it  in  June.^  At  Portage  aux  Sioux  he  found  the 
Church  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisium  nearly  completed, 
and  at  Carondelet  Rev.  Ed.  Saulnier  had  replaced  a 
primitive  log  chapel  by  a  stately  stone  church.  At  the 
Barrens,  Rev.  John  Timon  had  nearly  completed  a  fine 
new  church.  The  novitiate  of  the  Priests  of  the  Mis- 
sion contained  several  candidates  for  the  Congregation, 
and  there  were  also  six  theologians  for  the  diocese  at 
the  Seminary. 

On  the  first  of  August  he  visited  the  convent  re- 

'  Bishop  Rosati  to  V.  Rev.  John  Timon,  Nov.  8,  1835  ;  Deuther,  "  Life 
and  Times  of  Rt.  Rev.  John  Timon,"  Buffalo,  1870,  pp.  55-7. 

*  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xiv.,  p.  399  ;  Weekly  Register,  iv.,  p.  145. 

'Bishop  Rosati  to  Rev.  J.  Timon,  Jan.  6.  1837  ;  Catholic  Diary,  vi., 
p.  23  ;  Catholic  Herald,  v.,  p.  223  ;  "  Delia  Chiesa  Cattolica  negli  Stati 
Uniti  d' America,"  Verona,  1835,  p.  49. 


690       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

cently  established  by  the  Sisters  of  Loretto  at  St.  Gene- 
vieve. 

In  Illinois  the  roof  of  the  ancient  church  of  Kas- 
kaskia  menaced  l*uin,  so  that  the  church  could  no 
longer  be  safely  used.  But  there  was  new  blood  in 
the  old  State.  The  German  Catholics  around  Quincy 
had  erected  a  house  for  a  priest  and  as  a  temporary 
chapel  till  their  church  was  built.  The  little  log 
Church  of  St.  Andrew  at  Belleville,  under  Rev.  Charles 
Meyer,  was  the  first  step  to  a  future  bishopric.  Another 
log  church  was  going  up  at  Columbia,  and  a  congrega- 
tion was  formed  at  Crooked  Creek.  The  Church  of 
St.  Thomas  was  dedicated  in  November. 

On  the  21st  of  September  the  Bishop,  with  the 
clergy  at  the  Barrens,  translated  the  remains  of  the 
venerated  Father  Felix  de  Andreis  from  their  humble 
grave  in  the  old  log  chapel  to  one  of  the  six  chapels 
on  the  gospel  side  of  the  grand  new  church.  After 
offering  the  holy  sacrifice  for  the  last  time  in  the  old 
log  chapel,  on  the  22d,  Bishop  Rosati  consecrated  the 
new  church  on  the  29th  of  October,  with  Bishop  Brute 
and  a  long  array  of  priests  taking  part  in  the  cere- 
monial and  in  the  solemn  pontifical  mass.  Among 
them  was  the  venerable  priest  of  early  days  Rev. 
Donatien  Olivier,  at  this  time  in  his  ninety-first  year.^ 

The  diocese  of  St.  Louis  and  the  Society  of  Jesus 
sustained  a  great  loss  by  the  death  of  Very  Rev. 
Charles  Felix  Van  Quickenborne,  who  expired  at  the 
Portage  aux  Sioux,  October  17,  1837.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  Jesuit  missions  of  this  century  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  which,  as  the  Vice  Province 
of  Missouri,  has  now  its  colleges  and  churches  from 
Cincinnati  and  Detroit  westward.     He  was  born  at 

'  Catholic  Herald,  v.,  pp.  270,  388,  404. 


REV.  a  F.   VAN  QUICKENBORNE.  691 

Peteghem,  Belgium,  January  21,  1788,  and  after  being 
ordained  priest  was  a  professor  and  then  a  curate  till 
1815,  when  he  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus  upon  its 
restoration.      Two  years  later  he  came  to  Maryland 
and  became  master  of  novices,  and  an  active  mission- 
ary as  well,  erecting  two  churches.     His  removal  to 
Missouri  has  been  already  told.     In  the  new  mission 
he  was  daunted  by  no  difficulty  or  obstacle.     He  built 
a  stone  novitiate  with  the  help  of  his  novices.     He 
erected  the  church  at  St.  Charles  and  the  convent  of 
the  Sacred  Heart,  and  all  the  while  was  traversing  his 
large  district  to  find  Catholics  and  explain  our  misrep- 
resented   faith    to   Protestants.      The    ministers    at- 
tempted to  destroy  his  influence,    but  one  day  he 
entered  one  of  their  great  gatherings  and  asked  to  be 
allowed  to  propound  a  few  questions.     The  first  was 
to  know  what  test  they  had  to  distinguish  true  doc- 
trine from  false.     Their  answers  were  far  from  clear 
and  very  contradictory.     Leaving  them  to  settle  the 
point  among  themselves  he  went  outside  and  delivered 
an  address  on  the  four  points  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
Though  his  labors  among  the  white  population  were 
more  than  enough  for  a  man  of  utmost  endurance,  he 
felt  called  to  announce  the  gospel  to  the  Indians. 
He  thus  became  the  founder  of  our  Catholic  Indian 
Missions  in  this  century.     The  tribes  which  he  first 
reached  were  those  among  whom  the  Fathers  of  the 
Society  had  labored.     A  Shawnee,  with  his  Wyandot 
wife,  had  both  been  baptized  as  Catholics,  but  for  want 
of  a  priest  attended  the  Methodist  mission.     The  Kas- 
kaskias,  Peoria,  Weas,  and  Piankeshaws,  feeble  rem- 
nants of  the  Illinois  and  Miamis,  had  lost  nearly  all 
trace  of  Christian  faith  and  were  plunged  in  vice. 
The  Kickapoos  obeyed  a  false  prophet.     The  Potta- 
watomies,  Chippewas,  and  Ottawas,  recently  removed 


692       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

to  Missouri  Territory  from  their  homes,  where  they 
had  enjoyed  the  ministrations  of  Rev.  Mr.  Desseille 
and  Mr.  Petit,  offered  a  more  encouraging  field.  His 
first  permanent  mission  was  established  in  June,  1836, 
among  the  Kickapoos  ;  the  second  in  May,  1838,  among 
the  Pottawatomies  at  Sugar  Creek,  near  Council  Bluff. 
He  died,  after  a  brief  illness,  while  returning  to  St. 
Louis.  ^ 

In  1838  Bishop  Rosati  could  report  nine  stone 
churches,  ten  of  brick,  twenty-five  of  wood,  attended  by 
twenty-four  Jesuits,  twenty  Lazarists,  one  Dominican, 
twenty-three  secular  priests.  His  seminary  had  four- 
teen students  ;  the  Lazarists  and  Jesuits  had  twenty- 
five  preparing  for  holy  orders.  The  colleges  and  acade- 
mies were  well  attended,  the  orphan  asylums  sheltered 
fifty  children,  the  liosjDitals  received  annually  between 
five  and  six  hundred  patients.  During  the  year  1837 
six  new  congregations  had  been  provided  with  priests. 
The  annual  baptisms  were  about  fifteen  hundred.^ 

In  1839  Bishop  Rosati  summoned  a  Diocesan  Sjmod, 
which  met  at  the  Cathedral  in  St.  Louis  on  the  26th 
of  April,  and  was  attended  by  thirty-three  priests. 
The  statutes  put  in  force  the  decrees  of  the  first  three 
Councils  of  Baltimore,  and  the  Manual  of  Ceremonies  ; 
required  the  erection  of  confessionals  in  all  churches  ; 
a  becoming  clerical  dress ;  regulated  the  administra- 
tion of  baptism,  the  celebration  of  mass,  the  honor  of 
the  Blessed  Sacrament ;  the  confessions  of  religious 
women  and  of  the  young ;  the  proper  custody  of  the 

'  De  Smet,  "Western  Missions  and  Missionaries,"  New  York,  1859, 
p.  464  ;  Van  Quickenborne,  Annales  de  la  Prop,  de  la  Foi,  p.  88  ;  "  The 
Indian  Missions  in  the  United  States  of  America  under  the  care  of  the 
Missouri  Province  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,"  Pliiladelphia,  1841  ;  Catholic 
Herald,  v.,  p.  295.     F.  Verhaegen  to  Bishop  Rosati,  June  16,  1838. 

'  "  Notizie  sullo  Stato  attuale  della  Diocesi  di  S.  Luigi,"  Feb.  15, 1838. 


SUGAR  CREEK  MISSION.  693 

holy  oils  ;  laid  down  rules  for  the  celebration  of  mar- 
riage ;  forbade  erecting  churches  without  the  consent  of 
the  Bisho]3  ;  required  the  blessing  of  the  corner-stone  ; 
limited  the  exercises  of  faculties  by  priests  to  tlieir*^ 
own  districts,  and  required  them  to  offer  the  \io\j 
sacrifice  on  Sundays  and  holidays  ;  treated  of  the  four 
feasts,  alone  made  of  obligation  ;  of  patronal  feasts  ; 
urged  priests  to  select  qualified  persons  to  aid  them 
by  instructing  the  young  in  the  catechism,  and  made 
the  St.  Louis  catechism,  published  at  Lyons  in  1833, 
obligatory  for  the  French,  Bishop  Carroll's  for  Eng- 
lish, and  that  adopted  by  Bishop  Purcell  and  Bishop 
Kenrick  for  the  German.  Collections  for  a  new  Semi- 
nary in  St.  Louis  were  urged,  the  preparatory  one  to 
remain  at  the  Barrens.  In  conclusion,  the  faithful 
were  exhorted  to  liberality  in  affording  the  pastors  of 
souls  a  fitting  support.^ 

The  Pottawatomie  Indians  on  their  removal  to  Mis- 
souri became  one  of  the  cares  of  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Louis.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1839,  Father 
Christian  Hoecken,  S.J.,  took  charge  of  the  mission 
at  their  new  residence,  Sugar  Creek.  Later  in  the 
year  a  band  of  250  Catholic  Indians  arrived  from 
Michigan.  The  change  caused  great  depression  and 
disease  among  the  Indians,  and  the  missionary  soon 
aided  by  Father  Aelen  had  a  constant  field  for  his 
zeal.  A  rude  log  church  put  up  on  their  arrival  was 
replaced  by  a  better  one  dedicated  on  Christmas  day, 
1840.  The  next  summer,  Madame  Lucille  Mathevon, 
with  four  Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  arrived  and 
opened  a  school  for  Indian  girls.  ^ 

>  Statuta  Dioecesis  S.  Ludovici  promulgata  ab  Illmo.  ac  Rmo.  DD. 
Joseph  Rosati,  C.  M.  Episcopo  S.  Ludovici  in  Synodo  Dioecesana  liabita 
in  Ecclesia  Cathedrali  Mense  Aprili,  MDCCCXXXIX.  St.  Louis,  1839  ; 
Rome,  1839.     Bishop  Rosati  to  Archbishop  Eccleston,  May  16,  1839. 

1  Woodstock  Letters,  iv.,  p.  50.     Life  of  Mme.  Duchesne,  p.  366. 


694       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  ST  A  TES. 

In  October,  1839,  Bishop  Rosati  visited  Westphalia 
to  dedicate  the-  church  erected  there,  in  the  midst  of 
his  Catholic  settlement,  by  Father  Helias  d'Hudde. 
ghem,  S.  J.,  the  first  of  the  many  churches  reared  in 
Missouri  by  this  zealous  priest.^ 

In  1840  Bishop  Rosati  laid  the  corner-stone  of  Trinity 
Church  in  the  Soulard  addition,  and  proposed  to  erect 
his  new  Seminary  on  ground  secured  near  it.^  Not 
only  were  churches  in  progress  ready  for  dedication 
at  various  jDoints,  such  as  Springfield  and  Kicka- 
poo,  111.,  Cape  Girardeau,  Mo.,  but  the  Bishop  was 
now  able  to  send  clergymen  to  give  missions  in  many 
congregations,  which  were  productive  of  great  good.^ 

The  Flathead  Mission  grew  out  of  the  visit  of  four 
Indians  who  came  to  St.  Louis  to  obtain  missionaries 
for  their  tribe.  Two  fell  sick  and  died,  but  showed 
such  a  desire  for  baptism  that  the  sacrament  was  con- 
ferred on  them.  The  others  returned  encouraged  and 
were  followed  in  1835  and  1839  by  other  delegations, 
who  besought  the  Jesuits  to  come  to  their  aid.* 

Father  Peter  J.  De  Smet,  S.J,,  was  assigned  to  the 
work.  The  Jesuit  missionary  set  out  in  the  spring  of 
1840,  and  reached  the  country  of  the  FJatheads  or 
Selish  Indians,  by  whom  he  had  been  long  expected. 
With  a  tribe  naturally  so  innocent  and  well  disposed, 
instruction  proceeded  rapidly.  Chiefs  learned  the 
prayers  and  a  short  catechism  to  teach  others.     After 

'  Lebrocquy,  "  Vie  du  R.  P.  Helias  d'Huddeghem,  S.J.,  Gand,  1878," 
p.  204. 

*  Bishop  Rosati  to  Archbishop  Eccleston,  Feb.  19,  1840. 

^Catholic  Herald,  vii.,  pp.  134-404;  Catholic  Advocate,  iv.,  p.  20- 
116  ;  Truth  Teller,  xv.,  p.  275. 

■*  Bishop  Rosati  to  the  editor  of  the  Annals.  "  Annales,"  Dec.  31, 
1831,  v.,  p.  597.  "  The  Indian  Missions  in  the  U.  S.  of  America,"  Phila- 
delphia, 1841,  p.  7. 


FLATHEAD  MISSION,  695 

baptizing  six  hundred,  Father  De  Smet  returned  to 
St,  Louis,  to  bear  witness  to  the  great  field  open  to 
the  Church.  A  regukir  mission  was  decided  upon, 
and  in  1841  he  set  out  again  with  Fatliers  Nicholas 
Point  and  Gregory  Mengarini  and  two  lay  brothers. 
They  were  met  on  the  15th  of  August  by  an  ad- 
vanced party  of  the  Flatheads,  and  on  the  24th 
founded  the  first  regular  mission  on  the  Bitter  Root 
River.  The  Pends  d'Oreilles  and  Coeurs  d'Alenes 
also  appealed  for  instruction.  Hearing  of  the  Cana- 
dian priests  near  the  coast,  Father  De  Smet  descended 
the  Columbia  River,  and  met  Rev.  F.  N.  Blanchet 
and  Rev.  Modeste  Demers,  who  had  reached  Oregon  in 
November,  1838,  and  were  laboring  among  the  Cana- 
dians and  the  native  tribes. ^^ 

Bishop  Rosati  had  already  solicited  from  the  Holy 
See  the  appointment  of  a  coadjutor,  and,  when  Rev. 
JohnTimon  declined,  he  proposed  Rev.  Peter  Richard 
Kenrick.  It  was  not,  however,  till  he  visited  Rome  in 
1840,  after  attending  the  Fourth  Council  of  Baltimore, 
that  he  obtained  the  appointment  of  that  learned 
clergyman. as  Bishop  of  Drasis  and  Coadjutor  of  St. 
Louis.  But  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  laid  a  new  burden 
on  his  shoulders,  by  charging  him  with  an  important 
mission  to  Hayti.^  On  his  return  to  the  United  States 
he  consecrated  his  Coadjutor  in  St.  Mary's  Church, 
Philadelphia ;  Bishop  Kenrick,  Administrator  of 
Philadelphia,  and  Bishop  Lefevre,  Administrator  of 
Detroit,  acting  as  assistants.  He  then  prepared  to  sail 
to  Hayti  to  fulfill  the  duties  imposed  upon  him,  address- 
ing a  touching  pastoral  to  his  flock  whom  he  was  never 

'  De  Smet,  "Letters  and  Sketches,"  Philadelphia,  1843:  pp.  13,47, 
132.     "  Oregon  Missions,"  New  York,  1847  :  pp.  17,  18. 

'  BuUarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  p.  229,  234,  March  14,  April  30, 
1841. 


696       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

again  to  see.  His  departure  from  St.  Louis,  April  25, 
1840,  was  really  his  farewell  to  liis  diocese.  After  suc- 
cessfully arranging  with  President  Boyer  of  Hayri 
the  terms  of  a  concordat,  and  administering  confirma- 
tion to  hundreds,  he  hastened  to  Rome.  His  report 
gave  great  satisfaction,  and  he  was  deputed  to  return 
to  the  island  and  make  the  final  arrangements.  At 
Paris  his  condition  became  so  critical  that  he  returned 
to  Rome,  where  he  died  September  25,  1843,  honored 
for  his  virtues,  his  piety,  zeal,  learning,  and  the  ability 
displayed  in  governing  his  diocese,  in  the  councils  of 
the  Church,  and  in  delicate  negotiations.' 

'  Catholic  Cabinet,  i.,  p.  514;  U.  S.  Catholic  Magazine,  ii.,  p.  758  ; 
Salzbacher,  "  Meine  Reise  nach  Nord  Amerika,"  p.  213. 


CATHEDRAL   OF   ST.   LOUIS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DIOCESE  OF  MOBILE. 

BT.  EEV.  MICHAEL  PORTIEB,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1829-1843. 

Bishop  Portier  had  not  appealed  in  vain  to  the 
missionary  spirit  and  charity  of  Southern  France. 
Before  the  close  of  the  year  1829,  he  reached  New 
Orleans  in  the  ship  Antioch,  accompanied  by  two 
priests,  four  subdeacons,  and  two  clerics.'  Soon  after 
he  entered  his  episcopal  city,  to  begin  his  work  in 
earnest.  Mobile  was  then  a  city  of  ten  thousand 
inhabitants,  with  no  church  of  any  kind  but  the 
Cathedral,  a  rough  wooden  structure,  fifty  feet  by 
twenty,  and  the  people  so  indifferent  and  careless 
that  little  could  be  hoped  from  them. 

The  next  year  he  sent  Rev.  Mr.  Loras  and  Rev.  Mr. 
Chalon  to  make  a  thorough  visitation  of  Alabama. 
In  a  seven  months'  tour  they  visited  Montgomery,  Tus- 
caloosa, Huntsville,  Washington,  and  other  towns, 
gathering  Catholics  together  where  they  found  any, 
and  enabling  them  to  hear  mass  and  approach  the 
sacraments.  Bishop  Portier  ordained  his  first  priest. 
Rev.  Mr.  Poujade,  soon  to  die  of  yellow  fever,  and 
secured  a  beautiful  site  near  Mobile,  where  he  in  time 
erected  Spring  Hill  College  and  Seminary,  a  brick 
building  one  hundred  feet  by  forty-four.  It  opened 
under  the  care  of  Rev.  Mr.  Loras  and  Rev.  Mr.  Bazin, 
and  in  its  first  year  had  fifty  boarders.  The  prospect 
was  so  encouraging  that  the  Bishop  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  a  church  near  it. 


•Jesuit,  i.,  pp.152,  324. 
697 


698       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Pensacola  had  no  resident  priest,  but  was  visited 
by  the  Bishop  and  priests  from  Mobile.  Even  the 
church  was  gone,  and  though  the  congregation  zeal- 
ously set  to  work  to  erect  a  neat  frame  chapel,  a  hur- 
ricane, Just  as  the  carpenters  were  putting  on  the  roof, 
struck  it  and  utterly  demolished  it. 

St.  Augustine  was  under  the  care  of  a  good  priest. 
Rev.  E.  F.  Mayne,  whom  Bishoj)  England  had  sent 
there  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Portier.^  The  trustees  of 
the  church  in  the  ancient  Catholic  city  drove  him 
from  the  sacred  edifice  in  May,  1830,  and,  Avhen  the 
case  came  before  the  court,  Judge  Smith  decided  that 
the  right  of  presentation  vested  in  the  congregation 
and  not  in  the  Bishop,  and  that  the  treaty  ceding 
Florida  transferred  to  the  congregation,  through  the 
United  States  government,  all  the  rights  which  the 
king  of  Spain  had  possessed.  Thus  deprived  of  his 
church,  Rev.  Mr.  Mayne  was  compelled  to  officiate  in 
a  small  room  which  he  hired. ^    Bishop  Portier  in  Feb- 

'  Annales  de  la  Propagation  de  la  Foi,  v. ,  pp.  621-631 ;  Register  of  St. 
Augustine,  Register  of  Pensacpla. 

-  Few  legal  decisions  against  the  Catholic  religion  bristled  with  more 
errors  and  absurdities  than  this  one.  The  king  of  Spain  had  the  jus 
patronatus,  the  right  to  tithes,  and  the  right  to  nominate  bishops  under 
the  Bull  of  Pope  Julius  II.  The  judge  must  have  held  that  all  these 
powers  vested  for  a  time  in  the  Federal  government,  and  by  it  were  con- 
veyed to  the  trustees  of  St.  Augustine  Church  ;  for  all  these  powers 
passed  or  none.  If  the  United  States  government  did  not  succeed  to  the 
power  to  nominate  a  Bishop  in  Florida,  and  levy  tithes  to  support  clergy- 
men, it  did  not  succeed  to  the  jus  patronatus,  and  if  it  did  not,  could  not 
convey  these  powers  to  a  congregation.  Moreover,  the  United  States 
government  could  not  exercise  such  a  power  except  by  establishing  the 
Catholic  religion  in  Florida.  The  judge  confounded  pi'eseutation  and 
collation ;  but  the  case  before  him  was  one  neither  of  presentation  nor 
collation,  but  the  right  of  a  lay  body  to  expel  one  duly  in  possession  of 
an  ecclesiastical  office.  Bishop  England  went  over  the  whole  ground  in 
a  letter  to  Judge  Gaston,  December  17,  1831.  See  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscel- 
lany, X.,  p.  398;  xi.,  p.  214. 


VISITATION  NUNS.  699 

ruary,  1832,  proceeded  to  St.  Augustine,  to  endeavor 
to  allay  the  schism  which  the  judge  had  fomented ; 
but  the  hostility  of  the  trustees  to  the  discipline  of 
the  Church  was  long  maintained.^ 

On  the  last  day  of  the  year  1833.  Mobile  received  a 
colony  of  five  nuns  from  the  Visitation  Convent, 
Georgetown,  who,  with  Mother  Margaret  Marshall  as 
Superior,  came  to  establish  a  house  of  their  order  and 
an  academy.  They  were  installed  provisionally  in  a 
country  house  till  their  convent  was  erected.  This 
was  soon  completed,  at  a  cost  of  nine  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  the  academy  opened  at  Summerville,  three 
miles  from  Mobile.  It  soon  had  twenty  x^upils,  with 
every  prospect  of  increase  as  its  merits  became  known, 
though,  in  a  hurricane,  part  of  the  building  was  car- 
ried away,  the  nuns  escaping  as  by  a  miracle. 

Pensacola  had  its  church  restored  in  1833,  and 
solicited  religious  women  to  conduct  a  school.  The 
Bishop  had  established  a  school  for  boys  there  and 
one  at  St.  Augustine.  Montgomery  had  a  priest  and 
was  erecting  a  church  with  hearty  good  will.  Moul- 
ton  followed  the  example  and  soon  had  a  church  dedi- 
cated. Spring  Hill  College  Avas  so  well  attended  that 
it  could  receive  no  more  students.  Two  priests  were 
set  apart  for  the  various  stations  in  Alabama.^ 

The  number  of  his  flock  at  this  time  was  estimated 
at  eight  thousand  in  a  population  of  about  350,000.^ 

On  the  19th  of  January,  1835,  Bishop  Portier  assem- 
bled his  clergy  in  a  diocesan  synod  at  Spring  Hill. 

'  U.  S.  Cath.  Miscellany,  xv.,  p.  70(1835). 

*  Mother  Madeline  Augustine  to  Archbishop  Eccleston,  January  15, 
1833  ;  Annals  of  the  Visitation.  Bishop  Portier  to  Mgr .  Castracani, 
1833  ;  Catholic  Telegraph,  iii.,  pp.  54,  334 ;  Weekly  Register,  i.,  p.  119. 

^  "  Delia  Chiesa  Cattolica  negli  Stati  Uuiti  d'America,"  Verona,  1835, 
pp.  52-3. 


700       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

After  accepting  and  promulgating  the  decrees  of  the 
two  Councils  of  Baltimore  and  the  Manual  of  Cere- 
monies, uniformity  in  the  administration  of  baptism 
was  enjoined  ;  the  soutane  or,  in  traveling,  a  sober 
dress  was  to  be  worn.  Confessions  of  women  were 
never  to  be  heard  out  of  the  confessionals,  and  in  sta- 
tions where  there  were  no  churches,  they  were  to  be 
heard  in  a  room  with  the  door  open.  Records  of 
baptisms,  marriages,  and  burials,  as  well  as  a  list  of 
Catholics,  with  their  residences,  were  to  be  kept.  The 
Bishop's  secretary  was  to  keep  a  record  of  ordinations, 
letters  dimissory,  and  dispensations.  Faculties  were 
regulated.  A  priest  on  the  mission  was  em]3owered  to 
authorize  a  priest  of  another  diocese,  passing  through 
his  district,  to  officiate  for  ten  days.  The  qualifica- 
tions for  entering  the  seminary  were  prescribed.  The 
Bishop's  Council  was  to  consist  of  the  Vicar-General 
and  two  priests.  Faculties  were  to  be  valid  only  to 
the  next  spiritual  retreat.  Baptism  might  be  admin- 
istered in  private  houses  more  than  two  miles  from  a 
church.^ 

Bishop  Portier  had  long  desired  to  begin  the  erec- 
tion of  a  suitable  church  in  his  ei)iscopal  city,  to  serve 
as  his  Cathedral.  He  had  fixed  on  the  feast  of  the 
Assumption,  in  the  year  1833,  for  the  ceremony  of 
laying  the  corner-stone,  but  it  was  not  till  the  29th  of 
January,  1836,  that,  assisted  by  Rt.  Rev.  Drs.  Rosati, 
Purcell,  and  Blanc,  he  blessed  the  first  stone  of  the 
Cathedral  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  a  structure 
designed  to  be  76  feet  wide  by  150  deep.^  It  was  not 
completed  till  1850. 

In  1836,  Bishop  Portier  took  part  in  the  consecra- 

'  Decreta  Synodi  Mobiliensis  Primoe,  Die  19*  Januarii,  1835,  congre- 
gatse-Notre  Dame,  1890. 
'Catholic  Diary,  v.,  p.  248. 


SPRING  HILL   COLLEGE.  701 

tion  of  Bishop  Blanc,  at  New  Orleans,  on  which  occa- 
:sion  he  delivered  a  sermon  of  remarkable  power  and 
eloquence/  By  the  year  1838  the  troubles  in  St. 
Augustine  were  so  far  appeased  that  Bishop  Portier 
appointed  Rev.  C.  Rampon  and  Rev.  P.  Hackett  to 
that  mission.  The  Ladies  of  the  Retreat  attempted  to 
establish  an  academy,  but  soon  removed  to  Pensacola. 
An  orphan  asylum  was  opened  at  Mobile.  Spring 
Hill  College  was  prospering  under  the  direction  of  the 
Rev.  Peter  Mauvernay,  but  the  diocese  was  soon  to  be 
deprived  of  him  by  death.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
Mr.  Bazin,  under  whom  the  college  had  seventy  stu- 
dents. 
The  States  in  the  diocese  of  Mobile — Alabama  and 


SIGNATURE  OF   BISHOP   PORTIER   OF   MOBILE. 

Florida — gained  very  slowly  by  immigration,  and  the 
Catholic  body  did  not  increase  rapidly.  Having  met 
the  pressing  wants,  Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Portier  could  not  go 
much  further. 

In  1842,  he  proclaimed  the  Jubilee  granted  by  the 
Pope,  and  made  it  the  occasion  of  missions,  which  he 
gave  with  some  of  his  clergy  in  the  churches  of  his 
diocese.  The  next  year  the  work  on  his  unfinished 
cathedral  was  resumed,  and  the  Eudist  Fathers  as- 
sumed the  direction  of  Spring  Hill  College.^ 

'  Catholic  Telegraph,  v.,  pp.  22,  30. 

-Catholic  Almanacs,  1834  to  1843;  Catholic  Cabinet,  ii.,  p.  571; 
Salzbacher,  "  Mein  Reise  nach  Nord  Amerika,"  p.  308. 


CHAPTER  V. 

DIOCESE  OF  DUBUQUE. 
RT.  REV.  MATHIAS  LORAS,  FIRST  BISHOP,  1837-1843. 

On  the  28th  of  July,  1837,  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  hj 
his  Bull  "  Universi  Dominici  Gregis,"  erected  the  see 
of  Dubuque,  a  city  but  four  years  old,  assigning  as  the 
diocese  that  part  of  Wisconsin  Territory  lying  between 
the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers.^  The  priest  se- 
lected as  first  bishop  of  the  new  see  was  the  Rev. 
Mathias  Loras,  who  had  labored  for  several  years  in 
the  diocese  of  Mobile.  He  was  a  native  of  France, 
born  at  Lyons  in  1792,  of  a  pious  family,  his  father 
perishing  soon  after  his  birth  by  the  revolutionary  axe. 
He  was  ordained  priest  about  1817,  and  while  director 
of  the  Seminary  of  Largentiere  offered  his  services  to 
Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Portier.  In  1830  he  accompanied  the 
Bishop  to  Mobile,  and  for  several  years  labored  in 
seminary,  college,  and  mission. 

On  receiving  his  bulls  he  was  consecrated  in  the 
Cathedral  at  Mobile,  by  Bishop  Portier,  assisted  by 
Rt.  Rev.  Dr.  Blanc,  Bishop  of  New  Orleans,  on  the 
10th  of  December,  1837.^  In  the  diocese  assigned  to 
him,  the  present  States  of  Iowa  and  Minnesota,  there 
were  but  one  priest  and  a  half -finished  church.^    He 

*  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  pp.  162-3. 

2  Catholic  Herald,  v.,  p.  404. 

^  St.  Raphael's  stone  church,  began  by  Rev.  S.  Mazzuchelli,  O.P.,  who 
laid  the  corner-stone,  Aug.  15, 1835.  Cath.  Telegraph,  v.,  p.  22.  Truth 
Teller,  xiv. ,  p.  148  ;  Catholic  Advocate,  iii. ,  p.  62. 

702 


CONDITION  OF  DIOCESE.  703 

therefore  set  out,  at  once,  for  France  to  obtain  auxil- 
iaries and  means. 

In  October,  1838,  Bishop  Loras  arrived  from  Havre, 
on  the  Lyons,  with  two  priests  and  four  subdeacohs  to 
form  the  nucleus  of  his  clergy.  Meanwhile,  Father 
Mazzuchelli'  had  completed  and  erected  a  residence 
for  the  Bishop,  who  reached  Dubuque  on  the  18th  of 
April,  1839,  and  was  duly  installed  on  the  third  Sun- 
day after  Easter.^  He  soon  began  a  visitation  and 
found  tliat  Davenport,  mainly  by  the  liberality  of  Mr. 
Anthony  Leclaire,  had  already  a  fine  brick  church  with 
a  school-room  attached  to  it :  and  that  at  Burlington 
the  Catholics  were  already  at  work  on  a  church.     The 

SIGNATUHE  OF  BISHOP  LORAS,    OF  DUBUQUE. 

town  of  St.  Peter's,  in  the  northern  part  of  his  diocese, 
next  claimed  his  care.  There  he  was  welcomed  by 
nearly  two  hundred  Catholics  ;  at  Prairie  du  Chien  he 
found  seven  hundred,  and  began  a  church  which  Father 
Mazzuchelli  undertook  to  build.  Returning  to  Du- 
buque he  dedicated  his  Cathedral  under  the  patron- 
ao-e  of'st.  Raphael,  Archangel,  on  the  22d  of  August, 
1839.  At  the  close  of  the  year  he  even  crossed  to 
Illinois  to  confirm  and  officiate  at  Galena." 

About  this  time  he  succeeded  in  securing  three  acres 

1  The  first  priest  at  Dubuque,  Rev.  Charles  Fitzmaurice,  began  his 
miuistry  there  in  June,  1834,  and  while  visiting  the  scattered  Catholics 
died  of  fever  at  Galena,  in  August.     Freeman's  Journal,  i.,  p.  10. 

^  Truth  Teller,  xiv.,  pp.  149,  326  ;  xv.,  p.  253  ;  Catholic  Herald,  vi., 
p  341   vii    p.  205  ;  Catholic  Advocate,  iv.,  p.  140. 

'3  Catholic  Herald,  vii.,  pp.  244,  307,  332  ;  Catholic  Advocate,  iv..  pp. 
228,  252. 


704        THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

near  the  church,  on  which  he  proposed  as  soon  as 
possible  to  erect  a  building  for  a  literary  and  another 
for  a  charitable  institution.  He  bought  a  house  with 
a  large  lot  in  which  to  install  the  Sisters  of  Charity  to 
conduct  a  school.  In  1840,  he  could  announce  five 
churches:  his  Cathedral,  St.  Patrick's  at  Makoquata, 
St.  Anthony's  at  Davenport,  St.  Paul's  at  Burlington, 
and  one  in  hand  at  St.  Peter's.  In  another  year  there 
was  a  brick  church  at  Iowa  City,  a  German  church  at 
West  Point,  Catholics  busy  erecting  churches  at 
Bloomington  and  Fort  Madison.^  As  Wisconsin  was 
temporarily  placed  under  his  care,  he  visited  that  ter- 
ritory, establishing  a  mission  among  the  Menomonees, 
and  organizing  a  congregation  at  Milwaukee  to  erect 
a  church  on  the  lands  given  by  Solomon  Juneau. 
Then  we  find  him  at  Southport,  baptizing,  confirm- 
ing, instructing.  No  contrast  could  be  greater  than 
that  between  the  diocese  of  Mobile,  with  its  ancient 
churches  and  a  state  of  apathy,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  busy,  pushing,  active  Northwest  to  which  he  was 
assigned,  with  immigration  pouring  in,  largely  Catho- 
lic, all  active,  stirring,  energetic,  rearing  houses,  fac- 
tories, schools,  and  churches.  But  Bishop  Loras 
showed  himself  eminently  a  man  of  work,  ready  even 
to  assume  part  of  the  burden  of  others.^ 

Thus  it  came  that  Green  Bay  and  Milwaukee,  as  well 
as  stations  at  Van  Buren  and  an  Irish  settlement  that 
had  also  erected  a  church,  were  placed  under  the  active 
Bishop  of  the  West.  Business  required  that  Bishop 
Loras  should  visit  New  Orleans  in  1841  ;  on  his  return 
he  made  by  request  a  visitation  of  Arkansas.  Napo- 
leon, Arkansas  Post,  Pine  Blufl^,  New  Gascony,   St. 


1  Catholic  Almanac,  1840,  p.  104  ;  1841,  p.  138  ;  1842,  p.  110. 
*  Freeman's  Journal,  i.,  p.  110. 


INDIAN  MISSIONS.  705 

Mary's,  and  Little  Rock  all  enjoyed  the  presence  and 
ministrations  of  this  active  prelate.' 

Returning  to  his  diocese  Bishop  Loras  took  steps  to 
announce  the  faith  to  the  Indians  in  his  diocese.  Rev. 
Louis  Ravoux  began  a  mission  among  the  Sioux,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony, 
Rev.  Remigius  Petiot  among  the  Winnebagoes,  oppo- 
site Prairie  du  Chien  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Pelamourgues  among 
the  Sacs  and  Foxes. 

He  proceeded  in  1843  to  Baltimore  to  attend  the 
Council  with  this  good  report  of  the  youngest  diocese 
in  the  United  States. 

'  Catholic  Herald,  ix.,  pp.  10, 139  ;  Salzbacher,  "  Meine  Reise,"  p.  320. 


BOOK  VL 

CHAPTER  I. 

VICARIATE  APOSTOLIC  OF  TEXAS. 

RT.  REV.  JOHN  MARY  ODIN,  VICAR  APOSTOLIC,  1841-1843. 

Under  the  Mexican  rule,  Coahuila  and  Texas  formed 
a  state,  but  American  settlers  were  invited  into  Texas. 
They  soon  began  to  chafe  under  the  oppressive  Mexi- 
can laws.  A  civil  war  ensued.  On  the  defeat  and 
capture  of  Santa  Anna  at  San  Jacinto,  Texas  was  recog- 
nized as  an  independent  republic.  With  a  popula- 
tion almost  entirely  from  the  United  States,  among 
whom  i^riests  from  this  country  had  already  visited 
the  Catholic  portion,  it  seemed  to  the  authorities  of 
the  Church  to  require  a  separate  organization.  The 
Republic  was  made  a  Prefecture  Apostolic  in  1840, 
under  Very  Rev.  John  Timon  as  Prefect,  and  Pope 
Gregory  XVI.  on  the  16th  of  July,  1841,  by  his  Bull 
"Universi  Dominici  Gregis"  erected  the  Vicariate 
Apostolic  of  Texas, ^  and  the  Very  Rev.  John  Mary 
Odin  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Claudiopolis  and  Vicar 
Apostolic.  He  was  consecrated  at  New  Orleans,  March 
6,  1842,  by  Bishop  Blanc,  Bishops  Portier  and  Chanche 
assisting,  and  immediately  returned  to  Texas  Avhere  he 
had  been  Vice  Prefect. 

When  Spain  acquired  Louisiana,  Texas  lost  its 
importance    as    a   frontier    province,    and    declined. 


'  Bullarium  de  Propaganda  Fide,  v.,  p.  265;    Hernaez,  ii.,  p.  795; 
Catholic  Advocate,  vii.,  p.  306  ;  Catholic  Herald,  x.,  p.  101. 

706 


CONFIRMATION.  707 

Adayes  which  was  once  an  important  town,  became 
less  imi^ortant  than  the  neighboring  Natchitoches. 

The  holy  Bishop  Tejada  of  Guadalajara  continued 
his  care  of  Texas  after  his  laborious  visitation,  endeav- 
oring by  correspondence  to  excite  the  clergy  and  faith- 
ful to  their  duties.  After  his  death,  which  occurred 
December  20,  1760,  Texas  remained  subject  to  his 
successors  in  the  see  of  Guadalajara,  Rt.  Rev.  Diego 
Rodriguez  de  Rivas  de  Velasco  (1762)  and  Rt.  Rev.  Dr. 
Frai  Antonio  Alcalde,  O.S.D.  (1772),  till  the  erection 
of  the  see  of  Nueva  Leon,  or  Linares,  December  15, 
1777,  when  Texas  was  included  in  the  new  diocese. 

Neither  Bishop  Rivas  de  Velasco  nor  Bishop  Alcalde 
visited  Texas,  but  the  latter  in  1776  appointed  Rev. 
Jose  Antonio  Martinez  de  Benavides  his  Vicar-General 
and  Visitor  of  Texas  and  other  remote  parts  of  his 
diocese  ;  but  tliere  is  no  record  of  any  actual  visitation. 

The  Indian  missions  continued  under  the  care  of  the 
Franciscans,  and,  in  1777,  Father  Pedro  Ramirez,  mis- 
sionary at  San  Jose,  was  President  of  all  the  Texas 
missions,  and  by  an  indult  of  Pope  Clement  XIV.  was 
empowered  to  administer  confirmation,  for  ten  years, 
in  all  parts  of  Texas,  He  conferred  the  sacrament  for 
the  first  time  at  the  mission  of  San  Jose,  May  10, 
1778.^  The  fine  churches  of  the  missions  of  San  Jose, 
San  Antonio  de  Valero,  the  Immaculate  Conception, 
and  San  Juan  Capistrano,  which  survived  to  our  times, 
were  due  in  a  great  measure  to  Father  Ramirez.  The 
Church  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  was  described  by 

'  "  Libro  de  Bautismos,  Casamentos  y  Entierros  pertenecientes  S  la 
Mision  de  Sr.  Sn.  Josef,"  begim  Sept.  1,  1777.  There  had  been  to  that 
time  831  baptisms.  By  1823  they  amounted  to  1511.  Instructions  for 
•confirmation  by  priests,  and  the  faculties  of  Presidents  of  .Franciscan 
Missions  will  be  found  in  Hernaez,  "  Coleccion  de  Bulas,"  Brussels,  i.,  pp. 
446,  449. 


708       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Father  Morfi  as  very  handsome  and  worthy  of  a  more 
important  place.  That  of  St.  Joseph  was  nearly  com- 
plete, with  a  fine  nave  and  dome.  The  main  entrance 
was  very  ornate  and  surmounted  by  a  balcony.  The 
Church  of  St.  John  Capistran  was  a  solid  structure, 
also  with  a  very  ornate  entrance.  The  mission  and 
Church  of  San  Francisco  de  la  Espada  was  the  last 


MISSION   CHURCH   OF   LA   CONCEPCION. 

of  the  Indian  missions  near  San  Antonio,  and  the 
churches,  all  the  work  of  native  hands,  showed  to  what 
efficiency  in  handiwork  Indians  could  be  trained.  The 
missions  then  directed  by  the  zealous  Fathers  from 
the  colleges  of  Queretaro  and  Zacatecas  were,  how- 
ever, all  declining-  under  the  constant  inroads  of 
Lipans  and  Comanches.^ 


'  Morfi,  •'  Descripcioii  do  algunas  Misiones  de  Tejas  eu  el  ano  1778." 


BISHOPS  OF  LINARES.  709 

At  the  Spanish  town  of  San  Fernando,  now  called 
San  Antonio,  the  church  was  attended  by  secular 
priests,  Rev.  Casimir  Lopez  de  Lara,  Valdes,  de  la 
Pena,  and  others,  occasionally  assisted  by  the  Fran- 
ciscan friars.  The  population  seems  to  have  gained 
slowly,  but  the  baptisms  reached  one  hundred,  only 
during  one  year,  till  the  close  of  the  century.' 

Besides  this  settlement  there  were  others  of  less 
importance  at  Bahia,  Adayes,  Nacogdoches,  and  a  few 
presidios  or  military  posts.  A  company  of  soldiers 
belonging  to  the  force  at  San  Carlos  de  Parras  was 
stationed  at  San  Antonio  de  Yalero,  or  the  Alamo,  and 
had  its  own  chaplain,  who  was  subject  to  the  Bishop  of 
Durango  as  Vicar  General  of  the  Royal  Armies.' 

The  first  Bishop  of  the  See  of  Linares,  Rt.  Rev. 
Antonio  de  Sacedon,  died  soon  after  his  appointment, 
and  neither  of  his  successors,  Rt.  Rev.  Raphael  Jose 
Verger  (1782),  and  Andrew  Ambrose  de  Llanos  y 
Valdes  (1791),  made  any  visitation  to  Texas.  How- 
ever, as  the  wars  excited  by  the  Revolution  in  France 
required  large  bodies  of  troops  to  be  kept  under  arms, 
Bishop  Llanos  y  Valdes,  in  February,  1795,  issued  a 
circular,  with  the  Brief  of  Pope  Pius  VL,  "Cum  in 
exercitibus,"  October  6,  1775,  in  regard  to  the  privi- 
leges granted  to  soldiers  in  the  Spanish  service.^ 

On  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuits,  many  Indian 
missions  fell  into  the  hands  of  those  who  found  hard- 
ships and  poverty  where  they  expected  wealth  and 
luxury.     This  led  to  much  oppression  of  the  Indians, 

1  "  Libro  de  Baptismos  de  la  Villa  de  Sa.  Fernando  y  Pres.  de  Sn. 
Antonio  de  Vejar." 

2  "  Libro  en  que  se  asientan  los  Bautismos  que  se  hacen  en  la  Segunda 
Compania  Volante  de  Sn.  Carlos  de  Parras." 

3  Hernaez,  "  Coleccion  de  Bulas,"  i.,  p.  325  ;  Bishop  Llanos  y  \  aides, 
Circular,  February  19,  1795. 


ff- 


710       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

and  induced  Bishop  Llanos  y  Yaldes  to  issue  strict 
orders  in  favor  of  the  Indians.^ 

On  the  20th  of  July,  1801,  the  energetic  and  vigilant 
Bishop,  Primo  Feliciano  Marin  de  Porras,  was  raised 
to  the  see  of  Linares,  and  soon  began  a  thorough  visita- 
tion of  his  diocese.  As  usual  in  every  Spanish  diocese, 
he  called  for  a  presentation  of  all  faculties  held  by  the 
clergy  to  be  renewed,  and  appointed  concursus  for 
vacant  parishes.  Troubles  and  dif- 
r)  Acuities    had     already   begun    in 

^lidloo         Mexico,  and  the   Bishop  ordered 
—         prayers  to  obtain  God's  mercy  in 
these   times    of    i^ublic   calamity. 
His  apostolic  journej'^s  extended, 
in  1805,  to  Texas.     He  made  his 
visitation  at   San   Fernando    and 
SIGNATURE  OF  RT.  REV.     tlie  prcsidlo  of  Sau  Antonio,  with 
PRIMO  F.  MARIN,  BIS-     ^^^^  adiaceut  missions,  in  the  month 

HOP  OP  LINARES.  o       t  tt  •     -^     t      t  -n     i    • 

01  June.  He  visited  La  Bania 
also,  then  attended  by  a  secular  priest ;  Nacogdoches, 
and  the  remnant  of  the  Indian  missions,  still  directed 
by  the  Franciscan  Fathers  from  the  College  of  Zaca- 
tecas  ;  Father  Bernard  Vallejo  being  president  of  the 
missions.^ 

The  revolutionary  movements  soon  disturbed  all  the 
provinces  of  Mexico, but  Bishop  Marin  labored  for  the 
spiritual  good  of  his  flock,  especially  in  the  remote 

'Pastoral,  May  31,  1797  ;  March  26,  1798. 

^  Register  of  San  Fernando,  June  23,  1805.  Bishop  Marin  wrote  an 
account  of  his  visitation,  June  20,  1806,  which  is  referred  to  by  Jose 
Miguel  Ramos  de  Arizpe,  parish  priest  of  Borbon,  in  his  "  Memoria," 
Cadiz,  1812,  p.  51  ;  omitted  in  the  translation,  "Memorial,"  Philadel- 
phia, 1814;  and  by  Dr.  Luis  de  Onis,  "Memoria  sobre  las  Negoci- 
aciones,"  Mexico,  1826,  p.  54;  omitted  in  the  translation,  "Memoir 
upon  the  Negotiations,"  "Washington,  1821,  Baltimore,  1821.  I  have 
failed  to  obtain  the  account  by  Bishop  Marin. 


REV.  SERVANDUS  MIER.  711 

parts.  In  consequence  of  a  terrible  accident  in  a 
churcli  at  Chiliualiua,  where  articles  on  the  altar 
taking  fire  led  to  a  panic  in  which  125  lives  were  lost, 
Bishop  Marin,  in  1808,  prohibited  an  excessive  number 
of  candles  on  the  altars  of  churches,  and  all  light 
ornaments  of  paper,  lace,  or  other  combustible  mate- 
rials.^ 

As  the  revolution  against   Spanish  authority  ad- 
vanced  Bishop  Marin  was  driven  from  his  see,  and 
the  governors  of  the  diocese  endeavored  to  counteract 
the  spread  of  irreligion  and  vice.     The  Bishop's  death 
in  1815  was  a  great  loss.     During  the  vacancy  of  the 
see  Gen.  Mina  landed  near  the  coast  of  Texas,  accom- 
panied by  Rev.  Servandus  Mier,  who  represented  him- 
self as    Bishop   of    Baltimore,   performed    episcopal 
functions,    and    impiously    celebrated    mass  with    a 
native  brandy  called  pulque.     The  administrators  of 
the  diocese  issued  a  letter  to  warn  the  faithful  against 
him.2    The  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph  Ignatius  de  Arancivia  was 
appointed  bishop,  April  4,  1817,  but  found  that  relig- 
ion had  suffered  terribly  during  the  civil  war.     The 
charitable  funds  had  at  an  early  period  been  taken  by 
the  Spanish  authorities,  who  were  to  pay  a  regular 
interest  on  each  amount ;  but  this  ceased  with  the 
overthrow  of  the  royal  power.    The  republican  govern- 
ment, controlled  to  a  great  extent  by  masonic  lodges, 
entered  on  a  regular  war  with  the  Church.    The  Indian 
missions  in  Texas  w^ere  all  secularized  in  1825,  the 
churches  stripped,  the  Indians  scattered,  and  all  avail- 
able property  carried  off.    The  expulsion  of  all  natives 
of  Spain  deprived  the  Church  of  some  of  its  best  and 
most  devoted  priests.     The  government  of  the  State 

'  Circulars,  Jan.  9,  May  28,  1808. 

» Libro  de  Gobierao,  San  Antonio.     Ante,  p.  238. 


712       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

of  Coahuila  and  Texas  prohibited  all  religious  endow- 
ments for  education  and  charity  ;  it  reduced  the  tithes 
of  the  clergy,  and  deprived  them  of  all  civil  authority. 
The  Legislature  finally  prohibited  bishops  from  issuing 
pastoral  letters  or  edicts.  Against  all  this  legislation 
the  few  remaining  bishops  and  administrators  of  dio- 
ceses in  Mexico  protested.^ 

Though  settlements  grew  up  at  Victoria  and  Refugio, 
Texas  lost  greatly  in  population  during  the  troubles. 
Steps  were  accordingly  taken  to  attract  immigrants. 
Irish  settlers  formed  the  town  of  San  Patricio,  and 
were  attended  from  1829  to  1833  by  Rev.  Michael  Mul- 
doon,  and  from  1830  by  Rev.  Henry  Doyle  ;  but  the 
settlement  did  not  grow  and  the  priests  withdrew. ^ 
Numbers,  however,  from  the  United  States  settled  in 
Texas,  many  of  them  rough  and  turbulent  frontiers- 
men, and  with  them  came  itinerant  ministers,  ignorant 
and  prejudiced  men,  full  of  animosity  against  the 
Catholic  Church.  Their  tirades  led  to  a  fearful  crime. 
Father  Jose  Antonio  Dias  de  Leon  was  a  Franciscan 
from  the  College  of  Zacatecas,  known  for  his  virtues 
and  merits.  He  had  been  on  the  mission  for  more 
than  ten  years,  and  given  offense  to  none.  But  he 
found  that  these  new-comers  were  hostile  and  at  last 
menacing.  He  felt  that  he  was  doomed,  and  that  he 
might  be  assassinated  at  any  moment.  He  accordingly 
prepared  to  meet  his  death.  The  following  he  left  in 
writing : 

"House  of  Mr.  Henry  BoRDOisr  Preisttiss. 
"  This  Sunday,  Nov.  4,  1834, 1  returned  to  this  house, 
and  as  it  seems  to  me  to  be  the  last  day  of  my  life 
(God  knows  why),  I  address  my  weak  and  anguishing 

'  Coleccion  Eclesiastica  Mejicana,  4  vols.,  Mexico,  1834. 
'  Yoakum,  History  of  Texas,  1856,  i.,  p.  268.     Rev.  Mr.  Muldoon  re- 
mained some  time  in  Texas,  but  did  not  officiate  or  edify. 


MURDER  OF  FATHER  BIAS.  713 

words  to  my  beloved  parishioners  of  Nacogdoches,  bid- 
ding them  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  an  earnest 
farewell,  A  Dios,  A  Dios.  Let  them  commend  me  to 
His  Majesty  in  the  state  that  I  am  in  ;  saluting  them 
as  I  salute  them,  with  my  heart  in  my  eyes  and  in  my 
tears  ;  especially  to  Mr.  Roberts,  Lt.  Col.  Elias  Bean, 
Mr.  Adolfo,  my  friends  Allen,  Reque,  and  Chones, 
and  to  all  and  every  one  who  believes  in  Jesus  Christ. 
And  let  it  be  clear  and  notorious  by  this,  that  I  beg, 
as  I  do,  pardon  from  each  and  all  the  j^ersons  whom  I 
have  offended,  and  likewise,  prostrate  in  spirit  on  the 
ground,  I  pardon,  with  all  my  heart,  all  and  every  per- 
son who  has  offended  me,  be  the  offense  what  it  may. 
I  press  all,  without  exception,  to  my  heart  as  my  be- 
loved children  in  the  charity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
Also  to  the  Alcade  of  the  Ayuntamiento,  Don  Juan 
Mora,  etc.  Farewell,  farewell,  farewell ;  Amen,  Ainen, 
Amen.  This  letter  with  like  expressions  of  affection 
I  address  to  my  dear  friend  Dr.  Manuel  Santos  to  send 
to  his  correspondents,  when  he  can,  to  display  my 
heart  to  all  my  parishioners  :  whom  I  beseech  in  the 
bowels  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  to  persevere  firmly 
in  keeping  the  law  of  God,  and  the  sacred  obligations 
they  contracted  in  baptism.  And  I  beg  him  to  hand 
this  to  my  nephew  Santos  Antonio  Aviles,  that  he 
may  copy  it  and  live  in  fear  of  the  author  of  his  being. 
"Fr.  Antonio  Dias  de  Leon." 

He  left  the  house  and  was  never  again  seen  alive. 
His  death  was  concealed.  No  information  of  it  was 
forwarded  to  the  authorities  till  February,  and  then  a 
rumor  was  started  that  he  had  committed  suicide. 
The  Rt.  Rev.  Joseioh  Mary  Belaunzaran,  Bishop  of  Li- 
nares, endeavored  in  vain  to  have  the  matter  investi- 
gated.^   Texas  was  already  ripe  for  revolt.     Military 

'Bishop  Belaunzaran,  "  Representacion  que  dirige  .  .  .  .  al  Exmo. 
Sr.  Presidente,"  Mexico,  1836,  pp.  27-53.  Linn,  "  Reminiscences  of 
Fifty  Years  in  Texas,"  New  York,  1883,  p.  65.  Father  Dias  de  Leon 
before  being  stationed  at  Nacogdoches  was  at  the  San  Jose  Mission  from 
1820  to  1823,  and  acted  also  as  chaplain  to  the  troops. 


714       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

operations  soon  began,  and  in  about  a  year  Mexico,  at 
the  battle  of  San  Jacinto,  lost  Texas,  which  became  a 
distinct  republic.  During  the  war  the  church  at 
Goliad  or  Baliia  was  destroyed,  and  the  vestments  and 
the  church  i)late  of  many  churches  placed  there  for 
safety  perished.  The  church  at  San  Patricio  on  the 
Nueces  was  also  left  a  ruin. 

When  the  wretched  state  of  religion  in  Texas  was 
made  known  to  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  a  letter  was  ad- 
dressed to  the  Bisliox)  of  New  Orleans  requesting  him 
to  send  a  caj)able  priest  to  examine  and  report  on  the 
actual  state  of  affairs.  Bishop  Blanc  selected  Very 
Rev.  John  Timon,  Visitor  of  the  Congregation  of  the 
Mission,  to  undertake  the  task.  With  the  consent 
of  Bishop  Rosati,  Very  Rev.  Mr.  Timon  set  out  and 
reached  Galveston  in  December,  1838. 

SIGNA.TUKE   OP  THE  MTTRDERED  PRIEST  OF  NACOGDOCHES. 

Here  he  found  a  considerable  number  of  Catholics, 
well  disposed  and  ready  to  erect  a  church.  He  ap- 
pointed a  committee  and  made  application  for  a  site. 
While  affording  them  the  consolations  of  religion,  he 
learned  that  there  Avere  only  two  priests  in  Texas,  who 
lived  at  San  Antonio  de  Bexar  and  were  a  disgrace  to 
their  religion,  and  utterly  neglected  to  restore  the  al- 
most roofless  church  or  to  care  for  the  flock  of  fifteen 
hundred  Mexicans  and  fifty  American  Catholics  liv- 
ing there,  all  shocked  at  the  scandalous  example.* 

•  Very  Rev.  John  Timon  to  Bishop  Blanc,  Galveston,  Dec.  20,  1838. 


IRISH  CATHOLICS.  715 

At  Refugio  there  were  forty  families,  chiefly  of  Irish 
origin,  with  a  church  capable  of  restoration.  Property 
was  given  to  the  Visitor  for  a  Catholic  institution. 
San  Patricio  on  the  Nueces  was  deserted.  There 
were  200  Irish  Catholics  at  Victoria  with  a  little 
wooden  church  fifty  feet  by  twenty.  Besides  these 
there  were  a  few  scattered  Catholics.  Rev.  Mr.  Timon 
reached  Houston  on  the  3d  of  January,  but  found  it 
impossible  to  secure  a  room  to  offer  the  holy  sacrifice. 
The  few  Catholics  seemed  ashamed  of  their  faith  :  but 
a  good  Irish  girl,  a  servant  on  a  boat,  exerted  herself 
and  obtained  him  a  room  where  he  offered  the  flrst 
mass  in  Houston,  on  the  octave  of  St.  John.  On 
Sunday  he  preached  before  Congress,  and  won  the 
esteem  of  Vice  President  Burnett  and  others.  He 
took  steps  to  secure  a  plot  for  a  church.  At  Nacog- 
doches he  learned  that  there  were  600  Catholics,  with- 
out priest  or  church,  while  ministers  of  the  sects  had 
secured  old  church  lands  and  wfere  building.  Return- 
ing to  Galveston  he  found  the  ground  secured  and  the 
church  actually  In  hand.  After  enabling  some  to 
approach  the  sacraments  here  as  he  had  done  at  Hous- 
ton, Rev.  Mr.  Timon,  with  a  fair  knowledge  of  Texas, 
returned  to  New  Orleans  and  submitted  his  report  to 
Bishop  Blanc.  ^ 

When  his  statement  reached  Rome,  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff,  by  the  advice  of  the  Congregation  de  Propa- 
ganda Fide,  resolved  to  establish  a  distinct  jurisdiction 
in  Texas,  and  documents  were  forwarded  appointing 
Very  Rev.  John  Timon  Prefect  Apostolic,  and  invest- 
ing him  with  power  to  administer  confirmation. 

Meanwhile  the  Bishop  of  New  Orleans  dispatched 


'  Very  Rev.  J.  Timon,  Report  on  the  spiritual  condition  of  Texas 
(1839),  inclosing  statement  by  Juan  A.  Seguin,  Jan.  5, 1839. 


716       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

the  Rev.  N.  B.  Anduze  to  Texas  to  keep  alive  the  good 
dispositions  ah-eady  excited.  He  visited  Galveston 
and  Houston,  oflBciated  for  the  faithful,  stimulated 
their  exertions,  and  supported  their  j)etitions  for  sites 
for  churches.  The  corporation  at  Nacogdoches  had 
seized  the  ecclesiastical  property  in  that  town  because 
the  Mexicans  had  used  it  for  a  barracks,  but  Rev.  Mr. 
Anduze  entered  a  vigorous  protest  against  this  viola- 
tion of  all  right.  ^ 

In  the  tide  of  emigration  to  Texas  there  were  many 
Kentuckians,  not  a  few  of  them  Catholics.  This  in- 
duced two  good  priests  of  the  Bardstown  diocese,  Rev. 
G.  W.  Hayden  and  E.  Clark,  to  solicit  faculties  for 
Texas,  and  set  out  for  that  rough  mission.  On  their 
arrival  they  found  a  hundred  Catholics  from  Kentucky, 
settled  on  the  Brazos,  and  spent  the  Christmas  holi- 
days of  1839  there.  Then  they  made  tours  through 
the  territory,  visiting  almost  every  settlement.  They 
organized  congregations  at  Refugio,  Victoria,  and  La 
Vaca,  and  by  June,  Rev.  Mr.  Hayden  had  made  a 
second  missionary  tour  of  eight  hundred  miles,  saying 
mass,  administering  the  sacraments,  preaching,  and 
XJreparing  the  way  for  the  needed  Catholic  schools.^ 

Yielding  to  the  advice  of  several  bishops.  Very  Rev. 
Mr.  Timon  accepted  the  onerous  charge,  and  appoint- 
ing Rev.  John  M.  Odin,  CM.,  Vice  Prefect  sent  him 
to  Texas  with  full  authority  to  suspend  the  unworthy 
priests  at  San  Antonio.  Rev.  Mr.  Odin,  on  reaching 
Linnville,  proceeded  to  Victoria,  where  he  left  his 
companion.  Rev.  Mr.  Estany.     Thence  he  continued 

'  Rev.  N.  B.  Anduze  to  Bishop  Blanc,  Houston,  April  25,  1839. 

«  Rev.  G.  W.  Hayden  to  Bishop  Blanc,  March  13,  June  17,  1840. 
Webb,  "The  Centenary  of  Catholicity  in  Kentucky,"  Louisville,  1884, 
p.  55.  Linn,  "  Reminiscences,"  pp.  65-334,  citing  sermon  of  Canon 
Johnson,  1877. 


THE  REPUBLIC  AND  CHURCH  RIGHTS.       717 


his  journey  with  an  armed  wagon  train,  to  avoid  In- 
dian attack,  to  San  Antonio,  There  he  spent  three 
montlis  laboring  to  revive  religion,^ 

The  fear  of  hostile  Indians  was  not  visionary.  Vic- 
toria was  attacked  twice  by  the  Comanches,  and  the 
house  where  Rev.  Mr,  Estany  lived  was  plundered 
and  fired  by  them,  the  priest  losing  nearly  all  his 
effects,  glad  to  escape  with  life.  He  was  without  a 
chapel,  the  municipal  authorities  having  taken  pos- 
session of  the  Catholic  church  for  a  court  house. 

At  San  Antonio  Rev.  Mr.  Odin  with  Rev.  Mr.  Calvo 
put  a  stop  to  shameful  exactions,  attended  the  sick  and 
heard  confessions,  duties  the  pastors  had  neglected. 
The  church  needed  instant  repair  ;  the  truly  beautiful 
church  of  San  Jose  had  been  seized  by  an  individual 
who  demanded  $10,000  for  it.  The  Church  of  the 
Conception,  almost  as  beautiful,  could  easily  be  made 
available  for  a  religious  community.^ 

Then  by  way  of  Seguin,  Gonzales,  Victoria,  and  La- 
vaca the  Vice  Prefect  reached  Austin,  the  capital, 
and  petitioned  Congress  to  confirm  to  the  Catholic 
Church  its  churches  and  missions.  His  claim  was 
favorably  received  and  was  warmly  supported  by  the 
Minister  of  France.  He  visited  other  towns,  not  with- 
out danger,  as  the  Comanches  were  ravaging  the 
country.  Rev.  Mr.  Odin  estimated  the  Catholics  in 
Texas  at  10,000,  In  seven  months  he  and  his  fellow 
priests  heard  911  confessions  and  baptized  478. 

In  December  the  Prefect  himself  arrived  in  Galves- 
ton and  began  a  subscription  for  erecting  a  church. 
At  Houston  he  did  the  same.  On  reaching  Austin  he 
presented  to  President  Lamar  letters  from  Cardinal 

>  Rev.  J.  M.  Odin  to  Bishop  Blanc,  Linuville,  July  14,  1840. 
2  Same  to  same,  Oct.  2,  1840. 


718       THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Fransoni,  Prefect  of  the  Propaganda,  officially  recog- 
nizing the  new  Republic.  Securing  a  place  to  say 
mass,  he  started  a  subscription  to  erect  a  church. 
The  Congress,  by  a  special  act,  confirmed  to  the  Chief 
pastor  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  the  Republic 
of  Texas  the  churches  of  San  Antonio,  Goliad,  and 
Victoria,  Concepcion,  San  Jose,  San  Juan,  Espada, 
Refugio,  the  Alamo,  with  their  lots  not  to  exceed 
fifteen  acres,  and  the  church  lot  at  Nacogdoches. 
The  Prefect  and  Vice  Prefect  then  traversed  the 
country  to  ascertain  where  the  Catholics  could  be 
most  easily  gathered  into  congregations.  At  Nacog- 
doches after  the  murder  of  Father  Dias  de  Leon  all 
vestige  of  Catholicity  had  been  swept  away,  and  the 
V.  Rev.  Prefect  was  happy  to  find  an  old  house  in 
which  to  .set  up  his  altar.  The  erection  of  a  new 
church  \A  ns  then  undertaken.  V.  Rev.  Mr.  Timon  was 
soon  compelled  to  return  to  Missouri,  and  when  Rev. 
Mr.  Odin  in  May,  1841,  reached  New  Orleans  he  found 
bulls  appointing  him  Coadjutor  of  Detroit.  These  he 
returned,  but  V.  Rev.  Mr.  Timon  had  urged  his  ap- 
pointment as  Vicar-Apostolic  of  Texas. ^ 

The  bull  erecting  the  Republic  of  Texas  into  a 
Vicariate  Apostolic  was  issued  by  Pope  Gregory  XVI. 
on  the  16th  of  July,  1841,  and  Rt.  Rev.  John  M. 
Odin,  CM.,  was  appointed  Bishop  of  Claudiopolis, 
and  assigned  to  the  newly  constituted  Vicariate. 
Dr.  Odin  was  born  at  Ambierle,  France,  February  25, 
1801,  and  in  his  youth  was  enrolled  in  the  Congre- 
gation of  the  Mission.  After  receiving  deacon's 
orders,  he  came  to  the  United  States  to  labor  in  the 


'  Deuther,  "Life  and  Times  of  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  Timon,  D.  D," 
Buffalo,  1870,  pp.  66-68,  73-4,  80-5.  Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the 
Faith,  v.,  p.  394.     Catholic  Herald,  ix.,  pp.  115,  175. 


A   VICAR  APOSTOLIC.  719 

Seminary  and  on  the  mission,  from  Missouri  to  the 
Eio  Grande.  Submitting  to  the  burden  imposed  on 
him,  he  prepared  for  the  sacred  rite  and  was  conse- 
crated. Returning  immediately  to  Texas,  he  purchased, 
in  a  quiet  part  of  Galveston,  a  low  building  of  four 
rooms,  with  a  kitchen  and  gallery.  A  large  storehouse 
on  the  rear  of  the  lot  was  soon  transformed  into  la 
school,  presided  over  by  his  Irish  sexton,  who  had 
some  experience  in  teaching.  The  congregation  in  his 
little  chapel  was  increasing ;  the  church  at  Houston 
was  soon  roofed  in,  the  whole  structure  costing  $1040, 
of  which  the  Bishop  paid  $900. 

In  June,  1842,  he  wrote  :  "  The  people  of  Galveston 
appear  very  anxious  to  attend  our  church  on  Sundays. 
It  is  entirely  too  small  to  receive  all.  I  have  been 
obliged  to  have  a  little  sacristy  built,  and  I  am  get- 
ting some  benches."  With  but  few  priests  and  no 
resources.  Bishop  Odin's  own  share  of  labor  was  im- 
mense ;  and  he  was  soon  stricken  down  with  a  dan- 
gerous fever,  from  which  he  recovered,  with  no  physi- 
cian, no  attendance.  He  stationed  Rev.  Mr.  Estany  at 
Goliad  ;  Rev.  Mr.  Calvo,  at  San  Antonio  ;  Rev.  Mr. 
Clarke,  at  Lavaca  ;  but  Rev.  Mr.  Hayden,  the  zealous 
priest,  soon  died  on  the  San  Jacinto.^ 

Such  was  the  prospect  in  the  new  republic  when  the 
Vicar-Apostolic,  invited  to  attend  the  Council  of 
Baltimore,  though  not  a  suffragan,  or  in  the  United 
States,  set  out  for  it ;  but  he  was  trained  in  the  mis- 
sions of  this  country,  his  flock  was  mainly  from  it, 
and  from  the  Fathers  of  the  Council  he  expected  sym- 
pathy and  aid. 

'  Bishop  Odin  to  Bishop  Blanc,  May  22,  July  4,  1842.  Same  to  V. 
Rev.  John  Timon,  June  30, 1842.  Annals  of  the  Propagation  of  the 
Faith,  vi.,  p.  373. 


MISSION   CHUKCn  OF   SAN  JUAN   CAPISTKANO. 


720 


INDEX. 


Abbe,  Rev.  B 665   Baldwin,  Sister,  M.  P 164 

Abell,  Rev.  R.  A 286.  295,  305,    Balis,  Fiances 92 

403,  597,  600,  687    Balleis,  Rev.  Nicholas 563,  565 

Acquaroni,  Rev.  J.  B 361,  371    Baltimore,  Diocese  of 25-103, 

Adayes,  La 387,  707  422,  461 

Aelen,  Rev.  F 695   Baltimore,   Md 52,  60 

Alabama,  Vicariate  Aposto-  Bangor,  Me 159,  486,  489 

Lie  of 403-4   Bangs,  Rev.  Mr 528 

Alabama  and  Mississippi,  Vi-  Baraga,  Rev.  Frederic 614,  634 

cariate  Apostolic  of 73  Barber,  Rev.  D  ,  119  ;  Rev.  V. 

Alabama 378,  697-701  H.,  35,  119,  128, 138,  140,  144, 

Albany,  N.  Y 179,  202  153,  159, 465;  Mrs.,  43;  Jane.  .   689 

Alcalde,  Rt.  Rev.  A 707  Bardstown,  Diocese  of.  .  .266-305 

Alexandria,  Va.,  94,   194,  448;  579-612 

Pa 254   Barrens,  Mo 365,  370,  371,  396-7 

Allonez,  F.  Claude 341  687 

Anderson,  Rev.  Augustus 659    Barron,  Rt.  Rev.  Edward 568 

Anduze,  Rev.  N.  B 387,  716    Barry,  Rev.  John 328 

Apple  River,  Mo 682-3    Bath.  Va 576 

Arbre  Croche,  Mich.  .342,  343,  347,    Bache,  B.  F 457 

354,  614   Baton  Rouge,  La 390,  669 

Amelia  Island,  Fla 321    Baxter,  Rev.  Roger 35,  63 

Arkansas 384,  681,  683,  686   Bazin,  Rev 697 

Ashley 240   Bedford,  Pa 223 

Ashport,  Tenn 658    Beecher,  Rev.  Lyman 466 

Assakinac 354  Belaunzarau,  Rt.  Rev.  J.M. . .     713 

Association  for  the  Propagation  Belfast,  Me 146 

of  the  Faith 361    Belleville,  N.  J.,  517 ;  111 692 

Athens,  Tenn 658-9    Bellier,  Rev.  Mr 653 

Arancivia,  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph 711  Benavides,  Rev.  J.  A.  M.  de. . .  707 

Auburn,  N.  Y 184   Benedicta,  Me 472,  487 

Aude  Mme 366   Bernabe,  Rev.  Mr 669 

Augusta,  Ga.,  31,  325  ;   Me. . . .  485  Berry,  Rev.  Luke.. 198,  202,  204,  499 

Augustinians 118,  208,  210,  460   Berthold,  Mme 366 

Audizio,  Rev 397   Beschter,  Rev.  J.  W 106 

Austin,  Texas 717    Betagh,  Father 163 

Bigeschi,  Rev.  Mr 368,  391 

Babad,Rev.Mr 218    Bighi,  Rev.  Mr 368 

Bach,  Rev.  Mr 680   Biloxi,  Miss 663 

Bacquelin    Rev.  V 646  Birmingham,  Rev.  John ...  324,  328 

Badin,  Rev.  S.  T 203,  268,  271,    Bishop,  Samuel 113 

273,  333-4,598,  614,632,634   Blainville,  Celoron  de 330 

Badin,  Rev.  Vincent 632    Blaisdell,  Sergeant 482 

Bahia,  or  Goliad.  Tex  ..709,  710,  718  Blanc.  Rt.  Rev.  A. . .  .389,  411,  444, 

Baker,  V.  Rev.  R.  S 595-6  452,  669,  671-680,  700, 702,  706,  719 

721 


722 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Blanc,  Rev.  J.  B 389.  672 

Blanquart  de  Bailleul,  Mgr 650 

Blythe,  S.  C 110 

Rogue,  Miss 93 

Bohenie,  Rev.  Mr 632 

Bois-Brule,  Mo 3G5 

Bolaii,  Rev.  Francis 324,  327 

Bonaparte,  Charles  J.,  249;  Jo- 
seph   249 

Bond,  Rev.  Mr 528 

Bonduel,  Rev.  F.  J 632 

Bonuecamp,  F.  Joseph 330 

Bonnet  Carre,  La .368,  397 

Boote,  Kirke 156 

Borella,  Rev.  Mr 672 

Borgna.  Rev.  Mr 389 

Boston,  Diocese  op.  .106-159,  462- 

494, 

Boston 106,  462 

Brady,   Rev.    Joun,    54 ;   Sister 

Felicite 180 

Breckenridge,    Rev.    Mr..    451  ; 

Rev.  J  . .' 555 

Brennan,  Rev.  Mr 188 

Brent,  Sister  Agnes 29,  683 

Bridgeport,   Conn 491 

Bristol,  R.  1 115 

Britt,  Rev.  Adam 209 

Brogard,  Rev.  Mr 664 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y 185,  191 

Brosius,  Rev.  F.  X 115 

Brothers  of   the  Christian  doc- 
trine, 366  ;  of  the  Holy  Cross.  655 
Browne.  Rev.  R. .  .32,  56,  78,  306,  321 

Brownsville,  Pa .209,  252 

Brute,  Rt.Rev.  Simon  G..  .90,  411, 
654,  638,  646,  659,  689,  692. 

Buffalo,  N.  Y 201,  497,  541 

Bulger,  Rev.  Richard 183,  187 

Burke,  Rev.  Edmund,  31,  330, 

342  ;  Rev.  Thomas 568 

Burlington,  Vt.,   112,  469,  488  ; 

Iowa 704 

Burnelt,  Vice-President 715 

Buteux.  Rev.  S 646 

Butler,  Rev.  Thomas R., 426,  443; 

Rev.  Mr 302 

Butler.  Pa 251 

Buzzell.  John  R 482 

Byrne,  Rev.  Andrew,  328,  508  ; 
Rev.  Mr.,  139,  145,  208  ;  Rev. 
M.T.,216  ;  Rev.  Patrick,  124, 
127  ;  Rev.  William. .  .299,  599,  600 


Cabbotville,  Conn 490 

Cahokia,  111 370,  386,  691 

Cailleau.x,  Rev.  S 124 

Calvert  Hall 457 

Calvert,  Leonard 457 

Calvo,  Rev.  Mr 717,  719 

Camden,  H 324,  592 

Campbell,  Rev.  Alexander 622 

Camps,  Rev.  Peter 376 

Canton,  O 344,349 

Capellari,  Cardinal .  353 

Carabin,  Rev.  Mr 632 

Carbry,  F.  Thomas. . . .  47-50,  55,  78, 
82,  176 

Carey,  Matthew 231,  353,  550 

Carico,  Teresa,  278;  Mary..    ..    625 

Caretti,  Rev.  Joseph 367,  397 

Carlisle,  Pa 310 

Carmelites,  Port  Tobacco,  Md., 
44,  53;  Baltimore.  426,  443, 447, 448 

Carondelet,  Mo 384,  691 

Carr,  Rev.  M 309 

Carriere,  V.  Rev.  Joseph 411 

Carroll  of  Carrolton,  Charles. . .  99, 
181,  197,  414,  421,425 

Carroll,  Rev.  Michael 176,  184 

Carroll  Hall 533 

Carroll  Manor 74, 101,  414 

Cassell,  William 334 

Casserly,  P.  T 504 

Castiiilione,  Cardinal 69,  70 

Catechisms 96,695 

Catholic  Advocate,  607;  Expos- 
tulator,  463  ;  Press  466  ;  Her- 
ald, 555  ;  Telegraph 614 

Cavanagh,  Rev.  Mr 463 

Cellini,  Rev.  Mr 683 

CiiABRAT,  Rt.  Rev.  Guy  I...  870, 

291,  598,  604,  659,  606 

Challoner,    Rt.    Rev.    Richard.     66 

Chalon,  Rev.  Mr 697 

Chambersburg,  Pa 225 

Chambige,  Rev.  Mr 608 

Champaumier,  Rev.  Mr. . .  297,  302 

Chanciie,  Rt.   Rev.  John...  411, 

452,  455,  456,  660,  665,  706 

Charleston,   Diocese   op 57, 

58,  306-329.  508-596 

Charleston 31,  33.  43,  55,  591 

Charlestown,  Mass.  141, 155,  462,  473 

Charlotte,  N.  C 324 

Chazelte,  Rev.  Peter 599 

Cheraw,  S.  C 324 


INDEX. 


723 


PAGE 

Ch:e\'^rus,  Rt.  Rev.  John.  .  .31,  41, 
62,  90,  107-131,  170,  211,  26(5 

Chevallier,    Mr 85 

Chevigne,    L 87 

Chicago,  111 614.  641 

Chillicothe,  0 284,  334,  625 

Chickakos,  Ind 643 

Chicoisneau,  Rev.  Mr 269 

Chihuahua 711 

Cincinnati,  Diocese  of 330-355 

613-629 

Cincinnati,  O. . . .  284,  337,  340,  349 

Clancy,  Rt.  Rev.  William.  . .  444, 

586-591,  625 

Clancy,  Rev.  W.  F 658 

Claremont,  N.  H 120,  144,  465 

Clark,  Rev.  Ed 7l6,  719 

Clark,  Gen.  G.  R 270 

Cleveland,  0 626 

Clinton,  DeWitt 166 

Clorivifire  Rev.  J.  P.  de. . .  .30,  33, 

50,  96,  424 

Collins,  V.  Rev.  E.  T.,  625;  Mr.  253 

Colman,  Rev.  James 375 

Colt,  Roswell 205 

Columbia,  Pa.,  265;   S.  C,  320, 

329,  581;   111 692 

Columbus,  Ga 592 

Comanches 709,  717 

Concanen,  Rt.  Rev.  Richard 

L 41,  160-164. 

Conception  Mission,  Texas.  707,  718 

Conewago,  Pa 227 

Connecticut.  . .  .109,  113,  151,  463, 

473,  491 

Connolly,  Rt.  Rev.  John.. 42,  48, 

115,  172-187,  226,  232 

Connolly,  Rev.  Pierce 675 

Connors,  Jeremiah 682 

Constitution  of  the  R.  C. 
churches  of  the  States  of  N. 
Carolina,    S.    Carolina,   and 

Georgia 322 

Conway,  Rev.  :Mr 470 

Conwell,  Rt.  Rev.  Henry.  .62, 93, 

95, 103,  138, 195,  227-260,  408,  545, 

568-9 

Cooper,  Rev.  Samuel 311,  312 

Corcoran,  Rev.  James  A 587 

Corkery,  Rev.  Dennis 309-315 

Corporation  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Clergymen 67 

Councils  of  Baltimore.  .407, 432,  444, 
453,  460 


Council  of  Trent 345 

Covington,  Ky 604-611 

Crooked  Creek.  Ill 692 

Crosby,  Rev.  :Michaol 321,  375 

Croy,  Prince  de 129 

Cullen.  Cardinal 587 

Cummiskev,  Rev.  James. .  .235.  503 

Currau,  Rev.  Michael 254,  546 

Custis,  G.  W.  P 459 

Cutter,  Mr 473 

Czakert,  Rev.  F 621 

Czwitkowicz,  F.  Alexander. . . .  456 

Dahmen,  Rev.  Mr 299,  371,  396 

Damariscotta.  Me 136 

Damphoux,  Rev.  J.  B. .  .90.  411,  436 

Dardenne,  Mo 385 

Datty,  Miss  Julia 580 

Davenport,  Iowa 703 

David.  Rt.  Rev.  John  B.  .220,  266, 

272,  287.  339.  409,  432,  545,  602-3 

De  Andreis,  Rev.  Felix. . .  .224.  361, 

368,  692 

De  Barth,  V.  Rev.  A.  L. . .  .42.  207, 

219-226 

De  Bruvn,  V.  Rev.  John 636 

Deer  Creek,  Md 68 

De  Goesbriand,  Rev.  Louis 627 

De  Gregorio.  Cardinal 70 

Deiean.  Rev.  Mr 3.54.  614 

De  la  Croix,  Rev.  Mr 365,  368 

De  la  Hailandiere.  Rt.  Rev. 

Celestine 452,  644,  650-655 

Delanv,  Rev.  Mr 84,  94 

Delaware 216,  561 

Delia  Genga,  Cardinal 69 

Delnol,  Rev.  L.  R..88,  411.  428.  433. 
437.  443,  452 

Dec  Mezieres,  Mile 388 

Demillier,  Rev.  ]\Ir 472,  485 

Denman,  William 190 

De  Neckere.Rt.  Rev.  Leo  R..  391, 

666-671 

Deparcq.  Rev.  M 302,  607 

Der  Wahrheit's  Freund 623 

Desgaultier,  Rev.  P.  P 664 

Desmet,  F.  Peter  J.  88,  396,  682,  696 
Desseille,  Rev.  Mr 632,  643,  645, 

654,  694 

Detroit,  Diocese  of 628-637 

Detroit,  Mich 273,  284, 287,  341, 

343,  633 

Devereux,  John  C 180 

Deydier,  Rev.  Mr 537 


724 


INDEX. 


Deys,  Leo 361 

Dias  de  Leon,  F.  Jose  Antonio...  713 

Dickenson,  Mother  Clare  J 426 

Didier,  Rev.  P.  J 333 

Digges,  Sister  Apollonia 87 

Di  Pietro,  Cardinal. . , 161 

Dittoe  family 371,  375.  335,  349 

Dodge,  Coi 512,  520 

Dominicans. ..  130,  308-359,  272-301, 

335 

Dominican  Sisters, 603,  615 

Donaghue,  Rev.  T.  J 558 

Donaldson,  La 368,  397 

Dover,  N.H 152,  465 

Downey,  Rev,  Daniel 578 

Doyle,  Rev.  Henry 712 

Droste  de  Vischerung,  Rt.  Rev . .  453 

Du  Bois,  Rt.  Rev.  John.  .90,  93-4, 

100,103,193-304,  358-390,  408,  433, 

495-531,  619 

Du  BouKG,  Rt.  Rev.  L.  W.  .73,  380, 

321,  356-391 

Du  Buisson,  F.  S.L.  .63,86,  423,  557, 

Dubuque,  Diocese  of 702-705 

Dubuque 703 

Duchesne,  Mme.  Philippine. . . .  366 

Dudley,  Mass 464 

Duff,  Rev.  Martin 328 

Duffy,  Rev.  Patrick 509 

Dujaundi,  F 342 

Dunand,  F.  Joseph 365 

Dunin,  Rt.  Rev 453 

Durbin,  Rev.  E.  J.  . .  .302,   605,  659 
Dzierozinski,  V.  Rev.  Francis. .  411 

Eastport,  Me 146 

Ebensburg,  Pa 223 

Eccleston,  Most  Rev.  Samueu, 

103,  428,  436,  441-461,  619,  660 

Edelen,  Rev.  Leonard 54 

Egan,  Rev.  M.  Du  Burgo . .  91 

Egak,  Rt.  Rev.  Michael 109, 

208-218,  268 
Elder,  Rev.  G.  A.  M. .  295,  607,  609 

Elet,  F.  J.  A 88,  396,  628,  682 

Elizabethtown,  Pa 212,  265 

Ellicott's  Mills 448 

Elling,  Rev.  William 209 

Emmitsburg,  Md.  .51,  53,  63,  74,  88 
England,  Rt.  Rev.  John.  .  .57,  58, 
88,  93,  138,  231,  240-243,  306-339, 
409,  433,  446,  636,  666 
Erntzen,  Rev.  Paul. . .  .309,  316,  233 
Estany,  Rev.  Mr 716-719 


Endists 650,  701 


Fabler,  James 337 

Fagan,  Mother  Mary  A 164 

Fairfield,  Ky 597 

Fall  River,  Mass 486 

Fancy  Farm,  Ky 607 

Farjon,  Mother  Teresa 359 

Farnan,  Rev.  John 182,  191 

Fayetteville,   O.,    625;    N.   C.    334. 

581.  586 

Fenwick,  Rt.  Rev.  B.  J.  .53-57,  75, 

93,  120, 134.  159,  163-171,  310,408, 

432,  436,   452,  458,  462-494,  516, 

660 
Fenwick,  Rt.  Rev.  E.  D.  .370,  379, 
386,  392,  330-355,  409,  613-615 
Fenwick,    F.    Enoch,    75 ;    F. 

George 493 

Fernandez,  J.  F.  O 37,  48 

Ferral,  Rev.  F 517 

Ferry,  Rev.  Ciiarles 341 

Fesch,  Cardinal 61,  69 

Ffrench,  F.  Charles  D...130,  144, 
178,  470,  496 

Fink  family 336 

Fitton,  Rev.  James.  .144,  153-4,  485 

Fitzmaurice,  Rev.  Charles 703 

Fitzpatrick,  Rt.  Rev.  John 

B -• 493 

Flaget,  Rt.  Rev.  B.  J..  103,  109, 

211,  305,  335,  338,  409,  452,  545. 
597-613,  619,  641,  689 

Flathead  Mission 696 

Florissant,  Mo. . .  .380,  383,  386,  686 

Florence,  Ala 403 

Florida 73,  330,  697-701 

Flynn,  Rev.  J.  D 265 

Font,  Rev.  N 376 

Fontana,  Cardinal 78,  179 

Fordham,  N.  Y 524 

Fort  Wayne.  Ind 614,  642-3 

Forbin-Janson,  Rt.   Rev.  C.  A. 

J 452,  537,  628,  650 

Fortis,  V.  Rev.  Aloysius 69 

Fouche,  Rev.  S 599 

Frangois,  Rev.  J.  G 664 

Franklin,  Rev.  John ...     35 

Franciscans 80,  207,-308.  333 

Fransoni,  Cardinal 660,  717 

Frasi,  Rev.  M 568 

Frederick,  M.D. . .  74,  197,  443,  445 
Freygang,  Rev.  Mr 488 


INDEX.  725 

PAGE  PAGE 

Galena,  III 703   Hartford,  Diocese  op 493 

Gallagher,  Rev.  S.  P 31,  55   Hartford,  Conn 156,  463 

Gallego,  Mr 82   Haskins,  Rev.  G.  F 490 

Gallipolis,  0 270,  383    Hassett,  V.  Rev.  Thomas 375 

Gallitzin,  Rev.  Prince D.  A.,  209,  Hatscher,  Rev.  F 621,  632,  634 

212,  213,  216,  221,  292,  338,  Hawkes,  Wright 530 

555, 564  ;  Mme.  Elizabeth 536   Hayden,  Rev.  G.  W 716,  719 

Galveston,  Texas 714,  717   Hayes,  Rev.  Richard 48,  49 

Ganilh,  Rev.  Anthony..  342,  397,  404   Hayti 587,  697 

Gardinier,  Mr. ! 166  Helbron,  Rev.  Peter. .  209,  213,  223 

Gaston,  Hon.  William 313,  596  Helias,  d'  Huddeghem,  Rev.  F.  696 

Genin,  Rev.  Vincent 378  Henni,  Rt.  Rev.'  JohnM.  355,  616, 

Gensoul,  Mother  St.  Michael. . .  359  621,  625 

Georgetown  College. .  25,  44,  53,  75,    Heyden,  Rev.  Thomas 235,  241, 

106, 429  257,  660 

Georgetown,  S.  C 325    Hill,  F.  W 339,  341,  346,  349 

Georgia 306-329,  325    Hitselberger,  Rev.  A 577 

Gettysburg.  Pa 222   Hoecken,  Rev.  C 695 

Gil  bride.  Rev.  Mr 523   Hoerner,  Rev.  James 104,  577 

Glandorf,  0 621    Hoffmann,  Rev.  Mr 487 

Gomez,  Rev.  John  N 321,  375  Hogan,  Rev.  G.  D. ,  224;  Morris, 

Goshenhoppen,  Pa 209        181  ;  Rev.  William 224-250 

Gouo-h,  Theodore  A 467  Hohenlohe,  Prince  Alexander. .     85 

Grace,  Rev.  William... 165    Holland,  Rev.  M 234 

Grand  Coteau,  La 675   Holy  Cross,  College  of  the 492 

Grand  River  Rapids,  Mich 354   Holy  Marv,  Ky 597 

Grassi,  F.  John. .  29,  31,  35,  75,  179,    Hooper,  Mr 476 

218,  292    Hore,  Rev.  Mr 84 

Gravois,  Mo 686    Horstmann,  Rev.  Mr 622 

Green,  Dr.  H.  C.  B. . .  .133,  152,  486   Hou.stou,  Texas 715,  717 

Green  Banner,  The 506    Howard,  Thomas 274 

Green  Bay,  Wis 343,  354   Huber,  Rev.  Lorenz 223 

Gregory  XVI..431,   434,  438,  445,  Hughes,  Rt.  Rev.  John.  .  547,  550, 

461,  587,  605,  608,  615,  631,  656,  554-7,  254,  257,  260,  265,  446,  515, 

702,  706,  714,  718  523, 543,  686,  660 

Guadalajara,  See  of 707    Huntsville.  Ala 403 

Guidee,  V.  Rev.  A 675  Hurley,  Rev.  M. . .  42,  209-211,  216, 

Guth,  Rev.  Mr 517  215,  236,  260,  553,  562 

Huron  River,  Mich 342 

Hackett,  Rev.  P 701    Hurons 341 

Haes,  Rev.  Mr 517    Hyde,  Archibald 465 

Hagerstown,  Md 427 

Hailandiere,  Rt.  Rev.   Celes-  Illinois 384-5,  686 

tine  R.  L.  G.,  de  la,  Bishop  of  Indian,  Old  Town,  Me.  136,  150,  468 

Vincennes 650-655    Inglesi,  Rev.  A 248,  362 

Hamelin.  Augustine 615    Iowa  City 704 

Hailey,  Rev.  John 533 

Harold,  F.  James 212,  215   Jackson,  Gen.  Andrew 397 

Harold,  F.  W.  V 106,  208-221,    Janvier,  Rev.  Mr 342 

242,  257,  260    Jaricot,  Mile.  Pauline  M 361 

Harper's  Ferry,  Va 431,  575   Jarvis,  Mrs.  Sarah  M 490 

Harrisburg,  P"a 258  Jeanjean,  Rev.  Aug. .  .411,  669,  671 

Harrissart,  Rev.  E 599   Jenkins,  William 104 

Harrison,  Sister  Mary  John 473   Jesuit,  The 466 


726 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Jesuits,  Md.,  52,  55,  65,  etc.  ; 
Pa.,  430,  557  ;  Mo  ,  381,  681-2, 
693;  Kv.,  671;  La.,  599; 
Ohio,  626  ;  Rocky  Mouutains.  697 

Jogues,  F.  Isaac 341 

Johnson,  W.  C 458 

Jones,  Gardner 504 

Joubert,  Rev.  James  H 92 

Juneau,  Solomon 704 

Juncktr,  Rev.  H.  D 625,  629 

Kansas  Indians 398 

Kaskaskia,  111. . .  .270,  273,  281,  370, 
385,  683,  687,  692 

Kearus,  Rev.  Mr 223 

Keenan,  Rev.  Bernard 230,  241 , 

265,  546,  558 

Keily,  Rev.  Jeremiah 548,  556 

Kei.ly,  Rt.  Rev.  Patrick.  .58,  76- 
83,  314 
Kelly,  Alvah,  482  ;  Rev.  Dennis, 
535  ;  Rev.  Francis,  301  ;  Rev. 

Mr.,  632  ;  Rev.  Patrick 183-4 

Kennedy,  John  P 458 

Kenney,  V.  Rev.  P 75,  567 

Kenny,  Rev.  Patrick.  .212,  214,  218, 

220,  564 

Kenkick,    Rt.   Rev.   Francis 

P. . .  .303.  411,  432,  436,  444,  516, 

545-572,  597,  619,  638,  697 

Kenrick,  Rt.  Rev.  Peter  R  .  557, 

568,  691 

Kentucky 265-305 

Kerney,  Rev.  N 49,  50,  313 

Ketchum,  Hiram 528 

Kickapoo  Mission .    694 

Kirchen  Zeitung,  Die . .    .  522 

Knox,  Rev.  Dr 528 

Kohlmann,  F.  Anthony.  .51,  59,  86, 
134,  162-172 

Kohlmann,  F.Paul 164 

Kundig,  Rev.  M 622 

Lacroix,  Rev.  Mr 6(i9 

Lacy,  Rev.  Mr 26 

Ladaviere,  Rev.  Peter.  .599,  671,  675 
Ladies  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  Mo., 

366;  N.Y 536 

Lafargeville,  N.  Y 517,  524 

Lafont,  Rev.  Annet 538 

Lafayette ,  Marquis  de 250 

Lalor,  Teresa 25,  28,  29,  35 

Lalumi^re,  Rev.  S.  P 641-648 

Lamar,  President 717 

Lancaster,  Rev.  J.  M.,612;  John,  608 


Lancaster,  Pa.  265;  0 336,  347 

Langdill,  Rev.  A 178 

Landing    of    the    Pilgrims    of 

Maryland 458 

Lange,  Elizabeth 92 

Laporte,  lud 643 

La  Poterie,  Rev.  Mr 108 

Lariscy,  Rev.  Piiilip 118-127 

Larkin,  Rev.  John ()12 

Lastrie,  Rev.  Mr  633 

Laurel  Hill  College,  Pa 556 

Lazarists 361,  460,  568,  690 

Leakin,  S.  C 450 

Lcclaire,  Anthonj' 703 

Le  Couteulx,  Louis,  201;  Mr. . .  497 

Lee,  Gov.  Thomas  Sim 59 

Lefevre,  Rt.  Rev  P.  P...568,  638- 
39,  697 

Lekeu,  F.  Matthew 223 

Le  Mercier,  Mgr 650 

Leo  XII.  .88,  105, 138,  255,  346,  388 
399,  408 
Leopoldine  Association,  554,  585, 

625,  631 

Le  Ray  de  Chaumont,  Mr 181 

L'Estrange,  Dom  Augustine  de    168 

Levadoux,  Rev.  Mr 268 

Levins.  Rev.  T.  C.  75,  200,  505,  524 

Lexington,  Ky 304,  607 

L'homme,  Rev.  Francis 411 

Liberia 433,  461,  568 

Linares,  orNueva  Leon,  See  of. 

707,  709 

Lipans 706 

Litta,  Cardinal 34,  48,  78,  230 

Llanos  y  Valdes,  Rt.  Rev.  A.  A.. 

709,  710 

Locust  Grove,  Ga 311,  320,  325 

Long  Creek,  Ky 378 

Long  Lick,  Ky 284 

Loras,  Rt.  Rev.  Mathias.  452,  697, 
702,  705 

Loretto,  Pa.,  211 ;  Ky 300 

Loring,  Charles  G 481 

Louisiana  and  the  Floridas, 

Diocese  of 356-391 

Louisiana 358-390 

Louisville  and  Bardstown, 

Diocese  op 610 

Louisville,  Ky 609,  610 

Lowell,  Mass. . . .   156.  464,  466,  485 
Lucas,     Fielding,     427  ;     Rev. 

James T 26,  46,  78. 

Lucca,  Duke  of 346 


INDEX.  727 

PAGE  PAGK 

Liitz,  Rev.  Mr 398,  687    Marin,  Rt.  Rev.  Primo  F 710 

Luzerne,  Pa 268    Marlboro,   ]\Id   427 

Lyman  Theodore 479    Marquette,  F.  James 341 

Lynch,  Rev.   Patrick  N.,  587  ;  Marquette  River,  Mich 343 

James 181,  497   Marshall,  Mother  Margaret 699 

Lynchburg,  Va 85,  577   Martial,  Rev.  Mr 369,  383,  671 

Martin,    Rev.    Mr.    387  ;    Rev. 

McAleer,  Rev.  Michael 659       Thomas 347 

McAllister,  Daniel 347   Martiusburg,  Va.  .103,  429,  447,  575 

McAuley,  Rev.  A 185   Mascheroni,  Rev.   A 396 

McCarthy,  Sister  M.  Borgia,  588,  Mason,  William 482 

591 ;   f  liomas,  181,  497;  Rev.  Mathevon,  Madame  L 695 

Timothy 309,  324   Matiguon,  Rev.  F.  A 108-123 

3IcCloskey,  Rt.  Rev.  John.  Matthews,  V.  Rev.  William,  44, 

533,  543       84,    259,  409,  428,  447,    544  ; 

McCormack,  Rev.  Patrick 201       Mother  Juliana 444 

McDermott,  Sister  F.,  29;  Rev.  Mattingly,  Mrs.  Ann 85 

Mr 473   Maurian,  Judge 678-9 

McElroy,  F.  John. . .  35, 104,  425,  Mauvernay,  Rev.  Peter 701 

445,538   Mayne,  Rev.  E.  F. . .  .329,  406,  698 

McEncroe,  Rev.  John 324,  328   Mazzuchelli,  F.  Samuel. . .  .614, 

McGarry,  Rev.  J.  J 501  632,  703 

McGrady.  Rev.  Mr 618,  622   Meade,  Mr 248 

McGirr,  Rev.  T 216,  239   Medley's  Neck,  Md 44,  54,  423 

McGuire,  John 181    Memphis,  Tenn 660 

McKenna,  Rev.  Constantine. . .  Menard,  F.  Rene 341 

378,  663   Mengarini,  Rev.  Gregory 697 

McKeou,  James  W 530   Meuominees 634,  705 

McLaughlin,  Rev.  Peter 627    Merryland  Tract,  Md 427 

McMahon,  Rev.  Edvrard 607   Mertz,  Rev.  Nicholas 201,  497 

McNamara,  Rev.  Michael 201    Meyer,  Rev.   Charles 692 

McQuade,  Rev.  Paul 127,  177   Michaud.Rev.  Eugene 397 

McSherrv,  V.  Rev.  William.  430,  433   Michel,  Rev.  X 82 

Maccodabine.se,  William 615   Michigan 341,  354,  633 

Macheboeuf,  Rev.  Projectus  J . .  .627    Michilimakinac 341,  354 

Macopin,  N.  J 185    Mier,  Rev.  Servandus 236,  711 

Madison,  Ind.,  646  ;  N.  J 185   Migneault,  V.  Rev. 202,  469 

Maenhaut,  Rev.  C 405,  678   Milbert,  Mr 112,  130,  182 

Magennis,  Rev.  John 328   Miles,  Rt.  Rev.  Richard  P. .   277, 

Maginnis,  Rev.  John 535  301,  452,  608,  656-659 

Maguire,  F.  Charles  B..  80,  223,  Milwaukee 637,  704 

242,  544.  556  ;  James  L 451    Mina,  Rev.  V.  M 368 

Mahony,  Rev.  Mr 144, 152   Mine  a  la  Motte,  jMo 686 

Maine 105,  109   Mississippi,  State  of 73,  660-665 

Makoquata,  Iowa 704   Mississippi,  Vicariate  Apostolic 

Mailer,  Rev.  Malliano 568       of 73,  660 

Maloney,  Rev.  John 567   Mobberlv.  Brother  J.  P 36 

Malou,  Rev.P.,164, 171, 169,  176,192   Mobile,' Diocese  of.  .  73,  102, 

Manahan,  Rev.  Ambrose 533  697-701 

Marcy,  Marvin 482   Mobile,  Ala. . . .  378,  403-6,  697,  700 

Marechal,    Most    Rev.    Am-  Moffatt,  Mother  St.  George.  480,  484 

bkose.  .28,  31,   32-39,  75,  77,   85-   Moloney,  Mother  Marv  C. .  .  588,  591 

100,  118,  138,  193,  223,  225.  230,    Molyneux,  Rev.  Robert 68 

257,  660   Moni,  Rev.  John  A 678 


728 


INDEX. 


Monk,  Maria,  Awful  Disclosures 

of 509 

Monroe,  Mich 342,  354 

Montgomery,  Rev.  Charles  P., 
453  ;  Rev.  Stephen  H.,  275, 
353  ;  Rev.  Samuel  L. . .  .  275,  301 

Montgomery,  Ala 699 

Moran.Rev.  Mr.,  517  ;  Jasper..     47 
Moranville.  Rev.  John  F...  89,  127 

Moregg,  0 620 

Morti,  Rev.  F 708 

Moriarty,  Rev.  Mr 578 

]\lother  St.  Henry 478 

Mount  St.  Benedict,  478  ;  Mount 
St.  James.  491  ;  Mount  St. 
Mary's.  ..51,  90,  103,  197,  247,  425 

Muldoon,  Rev.  Michael 712 

Mulholland,  Rev.  Mr 301 

Mullanphy,  John 396,  398,  687 

Mulledy,  F.  Thomas..  437,  493,  516 

Mullon,  James 352,  354 

Muiios,  Rev.  Rafael 613 

Murfreesboro,  Tenn 659 

Murpiiy,  Rev.  W.  S 612 

Myers,  Sister  Beatrix 87 

Myrthe,  Rev.  Anthony 84 

Nacogdoches,  709,   710,    715, 

716,  718 

Nagot,  Rev.  Mr 30 

Nashville,  Diocese  op.  .  608, 

656-664 

Nashville,  Tenn 302,  656-659 

Natchez,  Diocese  of 660-665 

Natchez 397,  660-665 

Natchtoches,  La 387-8,672 

Neale,  Most  Rev.    Leonard, 
Bishop     of    Gortyna,    Arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore. . .  25-38,  109, 
116,  134,  364 

Neale,  Rev.  Charles 36,  69, 

212;    Rev.   Francis,   36,    103, 

253,  428  ;  Sister  Olivia 448 

Neil,  Rev.  Francis 384 

Nerinckx,  Rev.  Charles 43,  88, 

265,  270,  272,  276,    286,   291, 

298-99,  382 
Neumann,  Rt.  Rev.  John  N.  .  566 

Newark,  N.  J 198,  203 

New  Berne,  N.  C...50,  321,  324,  593 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J 205,  497 

Newburvport  Mass 105,108 

Newcastle,  Me 110-111,  151 

New  Hampshire 105,  109 


PAGE 

New  Haven,  Conn 113,  158,  473 

New  Madrid,  Mo.  371,  385,  397,  687 
New  Orleans,  Diocese  of.  666,  681 

New  Orleans,  La 367,397-98 

Newport,  R.   I.,  108,  145,    153, 

15G.  486  ;  Md 44 

New  Reigel,  0 621 

New  York,    Diocese  of,  161- 

206,  495-543.     Synod  of 538 

New  York  Literary  Institution. 

134,  164 
New  York  Weekly  Register...   504 

Nichols,  Mrs 465 

Norfolk,  Va. .  ..2(i,  43,  46,  57,  78,  80, 
92,  194,  423,  428,  447,  577-78 

Norridgewock,  Me 469 

Notre  Dame,  Ind 655 

Nyack,  N.  Y 517 

O'Beirne,  Rev.  Mr 490 

Oblate  Sisters  of  Providence. . . .  90, 
429,  443 
O'Brien,   Rev.    J.    577  ;    Lieut. 

John,    579  ;     Rev.    Matthew, 

212  ;     Rev.     Timothy,    577  ; 

Rev.   W.-F.  X.,  80,  209,  222; 

Rev.  W.,  429  ;   Rev.  Mr 72 

O'Callaghan,  Rev.  Jeremiah 464 

Ocean  Springs,  Miss 663 

O'Connor,  Rt.  Rev.  Michael.  563, 
567,  568,  572 

O'Connor,  Mr.  151;  John 181 

O'Conway,  Sister  Cecilia 180 

O'Donoghue,  Rev.  F.,  321,  324, 

338,  496,  500.  506  ;   Rev.  T.  J.  ?60 

Oertel,  Rev.  Maximilian 521 

Odin,  Rt.  Rev.  John  M.  . .  386,  391, 

455,  567,  636,  681-82,  688,  706-719 

O'Driscoll,  Dr 55 

O'Dwyer,  Rev.  Patrick 626 

O'Flaherty,  Rev.  T.  J.  .158,  462,  490, 

O'FIvnn,  F.  M     272 

O'Gallagher,  Rev.  S.  F 167 

O'Gormnn.  Rev.   Michael,   177, 

182,  187  ;  Sister  Mary  Joseph.  580 

O'Hannan,  Rev.  A 315 

O'Hare's  Settlement,  111 385 

Old  Mines,  Mo 6S6 

O'Leary,  F.  Joseph 620 

Olivier*  Rev.  Donatien,  271,  277, 

385  ;  V.  Rev.  John 359 

O'Meally,  Rev.  T.J 250-53 

O'Neill,    Rev.    Edward.     533  ; 

Rev.  J.  F.  328  ;  Rev.  Patrick.  546 


INDEX  729 


O'Reilly,  Eev.  M.  D.,  328,  664  ;  Plessis,  Rt.  Rev.  J.  O.    . .  .114.  170 

Rev.    Michael,    374-5  ;    Rev.  Point,  F.  Nicholas 697 

Philip 504   Point  Comfort,  Va 83 

Osages 368   Pointe  Coupee,  La 390 

O'SuUivan,  Rev.  Patrick. .  .324,  327    Pointe  St.  Iguace,  Mich 343 

Otis,  H.  G 479    Poket-an,  Ind 644 

Ottawas 341-42,  347    PoucC  Prescott  P 482 

Otter  Creek,  Mich 343   Poor  Clares 544,  632 

Owensboro,  Ky 610   Portage  aux  Sioux,  Mo 278,  370, 

385,  686,  691-92,  694 

Paillasson,  Rev.  Mr 686-87  Portier,  Rt.  Rev.  Michael, 

Pamphili,  Cardinal  Doria 360  388,  403-6,  409,  432,  452,  666,  672, 

Parker,  Isaac 482  697-701,  706 

Pasquiet,  Rev.  Mr 170  Portland,    Me.,    105,    151,    155, 

Passamaquoddies 110,  141,  472  ;  Ky 609,  610,  612 

146,  472   Portsmouth,  Va 50,  577-78 

Paterson,  N.  J 184,  198,  203    Poterie,  Rev.  Mr.  de  la 105 

Puwtucket,  R.  I  153    Pottinger's  Creek,  Ky 271 

Pax,  Rev.  Mr 542    Pottowatamies 598,  613,  694 

Pensacola,  Fla. . .  .375,  403,  698,  699    Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y 515 

Petiot,  Rev.  R 705    Poujade,  Rev.  Mr 697 

Pedicini.  Cardinal 615  Power,  V.  Rev.  John.  .95,  153,  183. 

Pelamourgues.  Rev.  Mr 705  188-191,  201,  203,  204,  411,  496. 

Penco,  Rev.  Mr 568  506,  524 

Peuobscots 110,  140,  470,  472   Prairie  du  Chien 639,  703 

Pensacola,  Fla 375,  403  Prairie  du  Rocher,  111.  .268,  280, 

Perche,  Most  Rev.  N.  B. ..... .  612  370,  385 

Pereira,  Rt.   Rev.    F.    X.,  360  ;  Prentiss,  H.  B 712 

Rev.  Joseph 361    Prescott,  Col 480 

Permoli,  Rev.  B 679   Pressigny.  Rt.  Rev.  G 360 

Peru,  0 621    Preval,  Judge 679 

Petersburg,  Va 577-8    Priests  of  Mercy 538 

Petit.  Rev.  B.,  654,  694;  Rev.  F.,  Prost,  V.  Rev.  Joseph. . . .  452,  565 

593,  599  ;  Mme 361    Providence,  R.  1 114,  153, 

Petithomme,  Rev.  M 472  155-56,  486 

Phelan,  Rev.  S.  V 209  Purcell,  Rt.  Rev.  John.  .74,  426, 

PmLADELPniA,  Diocese  OF...  206-  432,  446,  452,  619-629,  639,  672. 

263,  544  689,  701 

Philodemic  Society 438,  458 

Picot,  Dr 314  Quarter,  Rt.  Rev.  William.  521 

Piscataway,  Md 444  Quarter,  Rev.  Walter  J  .  .  .512,  515 

Pise,  Rev.  C.  C 427    Quincy,  Col 479 

Pittsburgh,  Pa. .  209,  223,  240,  544,    Quincy.  Mass 491 

546,  565,  572    Quinn,  Rev.  Edmund 618.  621 

Pius  VI 709 

Pius  VII. .  50,  69.  88,  102,  105,  160,  Raffelner,  V.   Rev.  John.  . .  .486. 

206,  243,  267,  306,  325,  334,  359,  490,  506 

379.  399,  408   Rafferty,  Rev.  P 251 

Pius  VIII. .  .70,  73,  97,  105,  338,  Raimbault,  F.  Charles 341 

417,  427    Raisin  River,  Mich 288,  342 

Plattsburgh,  N.  Y 202   Rale.  F.  Sebastian 469 

Pleasant  Mills,  N.  J 547   Ramirez,  F.  Pedro 707 

Pleasant  Point,  Me. . . .  108,  110,  Rampon,  Rev.  C 701 

115,  146   Randaune,  Rev.  John 411 


730 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Rantzau,  F.  Max 178 

Rappe,  Rev.  Amadeus 637 

Ravoux,    Rev.    A.,    639;    Rev. 

Louis 705 

Rawson,  K 497,  534 

Raywick.  Ky 612 

Read,  William  G 104,  449,  459 

Rederaptorists. . .  .453,  455,  460,  578 

Reed,  Rebecca 466,  484 

Reese,  Rev 528 

Refugio,  Tex 712,  715,  718 

Reid,  Rev.J 623 

Reilly,  Rev.  P. 561 

Rese,    Rt.   Rev.   Frederic  . 

349,  355,  482,  444,  455,  613,  617- 

18,  638-635 

Reynolds,  Rt.  Rev.I.A.596-97,  606 

Rhode  Island 105, 110,  111,  153 

Rhodes,  Mary 275 

Rice,  V.  Rev.  John 57 

Richard,  Rev.  Gabriel 250,  268, 

371,  287,  342-43,  616 

Richaudie,  F.  A.  de  la 330 

Richards,  Very  Rev.  B     ..  .669,  670 

Richmond,  Diocese  of.. 58,  76-83, 

103,  194,  575-579 

Richmond,  Va 79,  438 

Richwood,  Mo 686 

Rico,  Rev.  John 237 

Riker,  Mr 166 

Riviere  aux  Ecores,  Mich 342 

Riviere  Rouire,  Mich 342 

Rochester,  N .  Y 201,  501,  535 

Rodrisjuez  de  Rivas  de  Velasco, 

Rt.  Rev.  Diego 707 

Rogers,  John 285 

Rollins  Fork,  Ky 273 

Roloff';  Rev 216,  429,  490 

Romague,  Rev.  J.  R.  .110,  115, 

123,  488 

Rome,  N.  Y 184,  515,  534 

Roothaan,  V.  Rev.  John.  .  .430,  446 
RosATi,  Rt.  Rev.  Joseph.  .102,  361, 

378,  409,  446,  452,   641,   659,  666, 
672,  681-698,  700,  714 

Rosseter,  F.  John 308,  310 

Rousselot,  Rev.  L 108 

Roxburv,  Mass 483 

Rude's  Creek,  Ky 608 

Ruff,Rev.  Mr 643 

Runey,  Mr 473 

Ryan,  Rev. Dennis.  117,133,  140; 

Rev.  John,  360:  Rev.Timothy, 

35;  Ryaufamily 117,  136 


PAGE 

Ryder,  F.  James 458,  558 

Rymacher,  F.  V.  de.  .• 347 

Sacedon,  Rt.  Rev.  A 709 

Saco,  Me 153 

Sacs  and  Foxes 705 

Salem,  Mass.  .105, 108,  116,  134,  136, 
153,  466 

Salina,  N.  Y 205,  497 

Salmon,  Rev.  James 191 

Salzbaclier,  V.  Rev.  Joseph 456 

Sampson,  William 167,  186 

San  Antonio,  Tex 710,  714,  718 

San  Antonio  de  Valero. . . .  707,  718 

Sanderl,  Rev.  F 633 

Sandusky,  0 330 

Sandwich,  Mass 465 

San  Francisco  de  la  Espada,708,  718 

San  Jose,  Texas 707,  718 

San  Juan  Capistrano,  Texas, 707,  718 

San  Patricio 713,  715 

Sansbury,  Mother  Angela 625 

Saulnier,  Rev  E 683,  691 

Sault  St.  Mary,  Mich 341,  343 

Savage,    Rev.    Mr.    199  ;    Rev. 

William 663 

Savannah,  Ga 329,  592 

Savin,  Rev.  Mr 390 

Savine,  Rev.  Mr.  .266,  270,  371,  280 

Schaeflfer,  Rev.  Peter 384 

Schism,     St.     Mary's,      Phila- 
delphia   331-259 

Schueller,  Rev.  Mr 203,  205 

School  Question 534-532,  566 

Scott,  Michael,  334,  340,  349;  T. 

P 104 

Sedella,  F.  Anthony  358-390 

Sedgwick,  Theodore 538 

Seton,  Mother  Eliza 51,  53,    63 

Shaw,  Rev.  Mr 646 

Shepherd  of  the  Valley 683 

Sheehan,  Rev.  Godfrey 338 

Shorb,  John 347 

Sibourd,  V.  Rev. . .  358-9,  368,  380 

Sioux 707 

Sister    Ann     Alexis,    468  ;   St. 

Henry 401-2 

Sisters  of  Charitv  (Emmitsburg) 

51,  53,  65,  103;  182,  439,  468,  479, 

498,  553.  603,  606,  613 

Sisters  of  Charity  of  Nazareth. .  378 

Sisters  of  Charity  of  the  Good 

Shepherd 610 


INDEX.  731 

PAGE  PAGE 

Sisters    of   Loretto,  Ky.,    275;  St.   Vincent  ae    Pauis    Semi- 
Mo 382,  603       nary,  Lafargeville,  N.  Y 517 

Sisters  of  Notre  Dame  of  Kamur,  628  St.  Xaviev  College,  Cincinnati. .  626 

Sisters  of  Our  Lady  of  Mercy . . .  Sugar  Creek 251,  675 

580,  593    Sulpitians 52,  90,  460 

Sisters  of  Providence 650    Summerville,  Ala 699 

Sisters  of  St.  Dominic 300    Swiney,  Rev.  E 324,  328 

Sisters  of  St.  Joseph 691  Synods  :  Baltimore  427;  Boston 

Six  Months  in  a  Convent 484  491;  New  York,  538;  Charles- 

Smedts,  F.  J.  B 86  ton,  583;  Mobile,  699  ;  Phila- 

Sniith,  Rev.  John.  153  ;  Judge.  698  delphia,  570  ;    New   Orleans, 

Sodality  of  the  Blessed  Virgin . .     53       669  ;  St.  Louis 694 

Somagiia,  Cardinal.  .71,  208,  210,  306 

Somerset,  0 334,  349  'p^p^f-oTT                                        285 

Sorin,  Rev  Edward 665  ^.^^j^^j^.^   ^f.^gg- ' ' ' ' ' ' "  ^53  'l^l  435 

SouthBendlnd   ...    .........  642  r^^^^^^.     Deodat,  156;  V.   Rev. 

bpaldmg.  Rev.  Martui  J.    604,  William.  93,128,132-34,138, 

608,  609  ;  Mother Catherme..  276  '               178^184    196 

Spring,  llev    G ..... ....  528    Tuylorsville,  Ky .'609 

bpnng  Hdl  College,  Ala. .  .69<  Te]Ri\^,  Rt.  Rev.  F.  B 707 

,.       ^,  _,    o~,  Vl^    Tennessee 295,302,605 

St.  Augustuie,  Fla. . .  .321   o<4  405     ^^^^.^.^  ^^^^^^^  j^^j 646^  ^53 

c.   n,     1       Ar       o^Q   '45?  '-S-  'ifi     Terwooven  Rev.  James 501 

St.  Charles,  Mo.. 2. 8,  .366,  38o  396  Messier,   Rev.   John.... 72,  92,  411, 

,398,  686  42-2^  428,  451 

St.  Charles  Borromeo,  Seunnary  Texas,  Prefecture   Apostolic,   706- 

o  "r,,-  •  ,   •  >r,V  •  •  Vr 'i :?o-        "14  ;  Vicariate 714-719 

St.  Charles  College,  Md 42o    ^,^.^^1^^^.  j^^^i^.^ 4^5 

St.  Cyr,  Rev.  J  M.  J . .  643  t^            j^^v.    John. .  .108,  119, 

Stenbenvdle,  () 614,618  •'                                          j^g   267 

St.  Genevieve,  Mo 364,  370,  396   Theology,  Faculty  of ".'..  88 

^     ,.          ,,,                      ^'^^'  •?;:*  Tichitoli,Rev.Mr.,368,371,397, 670 

St.  Inigoes  Md 4.)8    r^^        Cornelius 217,  233 

St.  John's,  Md 44,  o4   ^.gjjj-    Q  gig 

St     John's    College,  Fordham,  Timniermans,  F.  P.  Joseph. .  59,89 

N   \  . >24,  .533,  .)38  r^^^^^^   ^Xt.  Rev.  John.  .  .386,  571. 

St.  .Joseph  s  Academy,  Emmits-  ^^g    ^^^    ggg^    g^g^    mi)-^\. 

burg,  Md -i'i  706-718 

St.  Joseph's  College.  Minerva. .     604    ^^.^^^  Society,  Catholic 4-50 

St    JoseiJhs    Semmary,    Ford-  Trappists. . . 169,  365 

ham,N.Y. o33    Triadelphia,  Pa 84 

St.  Louis,  Diocese  OF 388    Troconis    Rev    F       375 

St.  Louis,  Mo. .  87,  278,  36o-66  370  Trustee  Troubles,  27,  26,  43,  46,  78, 

^     ^,       ,     ,, ,                         4*^'^'  5?2                    214,  399,  518,  542,  548,  698 
St.  Mary  s,  Md  ....         4.o8    ^^.^^^j^  ^^jj^j.  ,^1^^ Igg 

St.  Mary  s  College,  Baltimore     .. 52    Tschenhens,  Father  F.  X 620 

■  ,,.  ,      ,,      ^,  10^'^^    Tucker,  Mr 152 

St.  Michael  s,  Mo -585  Tuite  F                                  270  301 

St.  Nicholas,  Md. . .  . . .       .     . .  .44   Tuscumbia.Ala'.  :.■.■.■.■ '403 

Stokes,  Rev.  Joseph. .  ,320.  329,  fo8  tyler,  Rt.  Rev.  William.  . . . 

Stone,  William  L 511  ^44  493 

St.  Philip's  College 637,  639 

St.  Reuis,  N.  Y 203 

St.  Thomas's  :\Ianor,  Md 44    Urbana,  O 622 


732  INDEX. 

PAGE  PAGE 

Ursulines,  Boston.    Mass.    123  ;  Walsh,  Rev.  Hatton,  192  ;  Rev. 

Charlestown,    141,    473-485,  James,  82  ;  Sister  F.  de  C. .  .  164 

489  ;  New  York,  164  ;  New  Or-  Waltham,  Mass 466 

leans,  y59,  362,  370,  383,  398  ;  Washington,  D.  C,  44,  72,  424, 

Charleston 585,  588,  593  N.   C,   50,   321  ;    Md.,  641  ; 

U.  S.  Catholic  Miscellany 317       Ga 592 

Utica,  N.  Y 180.  202,  534   Wathen,  Sister  Juliana 298 

Wayne,  Gen.  Anthony .*. .  270 

Valenzano,  Rev.  Mr 368   Waynesboro,  Pa 254 

Vallejo,  F.  Bernard  710    Webb,  Ben.  J 607 

Van  Assche,  Rev.  F.  J  88,  396    Weinzoepflen,  Rev.  Mr 654 

Van  de  Velde,  F.  James  ...   74,  664    Wells,  Elizabeth 276 

Van  de  Vogel,  Sister  Francis  .  .544    Westchester,  Pa 212 

Van  de  Wejer,  Rev.  A.  F 544   Weston,  Oliver 181 

Van  Horsigh,  Rev.  F 428    Wharton,  Charles  H 168 

Van  Quickeuborne,  F.  Charles  .  .88,  Wheeler,  Rev.  M.  F. . .  97,  411, 

89,  381,  398,  692  424,  429 

Varela,  V.  Rev.  Felix. .  198,  203,  204.    Wheeling,  Va 82,  577 

487,  514,  524  Whelan,  Rt.  Rev.  R.  V.  .455,  456 

Vauseois,  Rev.  Francis .  378  White,  Calvin,  473  ;  Rev.  Greg- 

Velzi,  V.  Rev.  F.  J.  M 259,  352  ory,  663  ;    Sister  Rose. .  .65,  180, 

Vergennes,  Vt 465  219,  443 

Verger,  Rt.  Rev.  R.  J 709    Whitefield,  Me 136,  151 

Verhaegan,  Rev.  P.  J 88,  682  Whitemarsh,  Md. .  .43,  68,  59,  67,  88 

Verheyen,  Rev.  Henry 59  Whitfield,  Most  Rev.  James, 

Vermont 109,  115, 128,  464-69  44,  88,  98,  100-106,  305,  410 

Verreydt,  F.  T.  L 88,  396   Wickham,  Mother  Seraphine 683 

Vicksburg.  Miss 664,  676   Wiley,  Rev.  William 144,  153 

Victoria 712,715,718   Wilkinson,  David 153 

Vilanis,  Rev.  Felix 533  Wiiminaton,  N.   C,  312;  Del.  561 

Villa  Gayoso.  Miss 663  Wilson,  F.  Thomas.  .270,  291,  300, 

Vincennes,  Diocese  op.  .  605,  336,  339 

638-655   Winchester,  Va 41,  79,  575-76 

Vincennes 270,  281,  297,  605    Windsor  Locks,  Conn 153 

Vincent  de  Paul,  Father 170,  217    Winnebagoes 634 

Viszogsky,  Rev.  A 639    Wisconsin 634,  639,  702 

Visitation  Nuns,    Georgetown,  Woodley,  Rev.  R.  D ..  153 

D.  C,  26.  36,  43,  54,  72,  95,  Wooster,  0 344,  616 

100,  424,  430  ;  Kaskaskia,  111.,  Worcester,  Mass 485.  491 

430,  683  ;   Mobile,  Ala. .  430,  Wouters,  Rev 164 

699;  Baltimore,  444;  St.  Louis.  686 

Ximenes,  Cardinal 249 

Waddington,  N.  Y  193 

Walden's  Ridge 658    Young.  F.  D 275,  286 

Wallace,  Rev.  James. ..  55,  135,  336,  344,  347,  352,  483 

165,  311  „ 

Walley,  Thomas 114   Zachia.  Md 44 

Wallingford,  Conn 464   Zane,  Mr 82 

Wallis,  Rev.  Michael 375  Zanesville,  O.  .336,  344.  347,  620.  627 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


